Photo: Mathieu Lewis-Rolland / Getty Images News / Getty Images
Authorities have released the urgent 911 call made by Kaylub Giamanco, the bystander who fatally shot a 16-year-old gunman at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon, last month. The call, which lasted just over a minute, captures Giamanco telling the dispatcher that there is "someone with a gun" at his daughter's school and that he is prepared to use his own firearm if necessary.
The shooting occurred on Thursday (October 15), when police say the 16-year-old, identified as Griffin J. John II, forced his way into the school by firing at the locked doors. Once inside, the shooter entered a special education classroom and killed three children—ages five, eight, and eleven—as well as 25-year-old teacher Megan Lambert. Two others, including a seven-year-old girl and teacher Becky Drury, were seriously injured.
Giamanco, who was returning home for lunch, saw the shooter and called 911 before entering the building with his .40-caliber handgun. He told the dispatcher, "I have a gun and I will shoot them right now, if I have to." He then entered the school through a window and encountered the shooter in a classroom, where a teacher was struggling to disarm the gunman. Giamanco fired at the shooter, stopping the attack.
Authorities and witnesses credited both Giamanco and a teacher, later identified as Cassidy Schutz, for their actions during the attack. Schutz tackled the shooter and tried to wrestle away the weapon before Giamanco arrived. "This is not a story. This is a horrific and heartbreaking tragedy, and it is our real lives," Schutz wrote in a statement released by the school district.
Police said the shooter used a pump-action 12-gauge shotgun in the attack. He was a former student at Silver Rail Elementary with special needs. A motive for the attack remains under investigation.