Kaylub Giamanco, a 36-year-old carpenter and father with two daughters enrolled at the school, fatally shot a 16-year-old gunman who killed three children and a teacher at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon, on October 15, 2026, after intervening in the middle of the school day.
Kaylub Giamanco Intervenes at Silver Rail Elementary School
On October 15, 2026, a 16-year-old former student forced his way into Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon, by firing into the glass panes of an exterior set of doors. Armed with a Maverick 12-gauge shotgun, the teen shooter entered a special education classroom and opened fire. The attack claimed the lives of three children and a teacher, while seriously injuring two others.
Kaylub Giamanco, a 36-year-old carpenter and father with two daughters enrolled at the school, happened to be driving past Brentwood Avenue near the campus around 1 p.m. after altering his lunch plans. Giamanco spotted the gunman—dressed all in black—open fire on a motorist in a red pickup truck and a woman mowing the school lawn. When the teenager threw his shotgun over the perimeter fence and scaled it, Giamanco pulled a .40-caliber handgun from his truck console.
From Kelik and Lillian Summer:We understand that this tragedy doesn’t stop with us and the community wants to know about the loss of our beautiful boy, Rhoam.Rhoam was so so strong. The day he was born, his father gave him his first sink bath at the hospital. In the sink,… pic.twitter.com/GoI8PXmQJj
I’m sorry, I have to go in. People are going to die.
Kaylub Giamanco, via CNN
He scaled the fence and followed the shooter, crawling through a bottom window that had been shot out. Moving on his hands and knees, Giamanco reached the special education classroom as gunfire and children’s pleas echoed through the hallway. He swung the door open and fired after seeing a teacher struggling with the gunman for the weapon. The teacher fled, and Giamanco fired two additional rounds into the shooter to prevent him from reaching his weapon again.
Campus Security Slowed Attacker as Mother Bought Shotgun
Investigators and school officials have detailed both the physical security measures at the campus and the provenance of the weapon used in the attack. Superintendent Steve Cook told reporters that the school’s exterior perimeter fencing and locked side doors did not stop the attacker entirely, but they slowed his entry and provided a vital visual trigger for a bystander to call 911.
Law enforcement sources told CBS News and NBC News that the Maverick 12-gauge shotgun was purchased legally in August 2026 by the shooter’s mother, Shauntai Nickerson, and given to the teen for recreational use. Court and police records reviewed by the Oregon Journalism Project revealed that Nickerson had faced two assault accusations in Deschutes County in 2023, though she was not charged in the first instance and the district attorney dropped charges in the second.
Family Background and Community Impact in Bend
The 16-year-old shooter, Griffin J. John II, was born in Newport in 2010 to Shauntai Nickerson and Griffin Jay John Sr., and lived with his mother in an apartment on Brosterhous Road a few blocks from Silver Rail Elementary. Police and the FBI searched the family home and examined the teen’s electronic and social media accounts. Authorities located the shooter’s father, Griffin John Sr., living in the woods near Astoria, some 250 miles away, and delivered the news of his son’s death.
In the aftermath of the tragedy, schools across Bend remained closed as the community gathered for vigils and mourned the victims. Tina Kotek praised the quick thinking and courage of staff, parents, and first responders, while police lauded Giamanco for preventing further bloodshed. Giamanco, however, has spoken candidly about the emotional toll of the encounter.
The gratitude for saving people’s children is awesome, but there were ones that I didn’t save. I want to apologize for not saving their babies.
Kaylub Giamanco, via AOL
A GoFundMe campaign has been established to support Giamanco and his family as the investigation continues and the community works to recover from the shooting.
"The dispatcher had questions for him, but he didn’t stay on the call to answer them.'I said, ‘I’m sorry, I have to go in. People are going to die.'"Hero doesn't even begin to cover it. https://t.co/O6wTImSZ4Y
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More on Kaylub Giamanco
Last Thursday "was just honestly the worst day of my life, much worse than when I actually went through it myself as a child." https://t.co/ahC5KRDV0d
My heart is with the children and teachers who returned to school this week in Bend and across Oregon. We must do what we can to ensure tragedies like this one never happen again. I will use every tool at my disposal to secure the federal protections our country deserves to…
He stopped a school shooting. But Kaylub Giamanco can't stop thinking about the children he couldn't save."I want to apologize for not saving their babies," he told @OPB. A gripping interview about courage, trauma and the weight of being called a hero.https://t.co/7Vuwygr1m8
JUST IN: The heroic bystander who took down a 16-year-old gunman during a deadly Oregon elementary school shooting has been identified as 36-year-old Kaylub Giamanco.Giamanco, whose two daughters attend Silver Rail Elementary School, saw the suspect shoot at a truck before… pic.twitter.com/9LVuWooFWK
Kaylub Giamanco, a 36-year-old carpenter and father of two, was hailed as a hero when he gunned down an armed teenager on a shooting rampage at his children’s elementary school in Bend, Oregon.Three children and a teacher were killed. https://t.co/lHWaHHfe0N pic.twitter.com/OPahjbnkNy
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