A horrific shooting at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon, left three children and a teacher dead on Thursday. The children were 5, 8, and 11 years old. A 7-year-old child who uses a wheelchair and another teacher were critically injured.
According to the report, the 16-year-old gunman entered the school by firing through locked doors and opened fire inside a special education classroom. The suspect was identified by three senior law enforcement officials as John J. Griffin. A motive had not been reported.
Then an armed bystander intervened. The man was identified as 36-year-old Kaylub Giamanco, a carpenter and father of two young daughters who attend Silver Rail Elementary School. His brother, Kyle Giamanco, told NBC News that Kaylub had been driving home after grabbing something to eat when he heard gunshots and saw the shooter entering the building.
Giamanco has a concealed carry permit. According to the account, he followed the shooter inside and shot him moments after the gunman opened fire. There was no time for a committee meeting, a press conference, or the usual parade of people explaining why action was impossible. The armed father saw danger and moved toward it.
The family connection makes the story even more painful. Giamanco is reportedly a family friend of the 7-year-old victim who was shot in the face. That child survived and was hospitalized. Kyle Giamanco said his brother does not feel like a hero because he believes he should have been able to save more children. That kind of guilt may be impossible for outsiders to understand, but it does not erase what he did.
Officials said the community member’s actions prevented further loss at the school. In a statement ahead of his rally in Georgia, President Trump praised Giamanco as a great hero.
President Trump said: “There was a GREAT HERO. As bad as it was, we had a great hero who TOOK CARE OF BUSINESS. Thank GOD we had him…thank goodness for a man that had a gun and knew how to use it.”
That comment will upset the usual crowd that wants every discussion about public safety reduced to slogans and restrictions aimed at people who follow the law. But the reported facts here are difficult to ignore. A concealed carry permit holder confronted the attacker and stopped the violence before even more families received devastating news.
The deaths at Silver Rail Elementary School are tragic, and the surviving victims and their families face an unimaginable road ahead. Giamanco may not want the title of hero, but his actions gave others a chance to live. Sometimes the person who makes the difference is not wearing a uniform. Sometimes he is simply a father who hears gunfire and refuses to drive past.
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