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ILLUSTRATIVE IMAGE: A school building, representing school safety concerns following the Oregon shooting.
Teacher and Armed Father Stop Oregon School Shooter, Police Say
BEND, Oregon — October 16, 2026
A teacher and an armed father helped stop a 16-year-old gunman who killed three children and a teacher at an elementary school in Bend, Oregon, police said. Their actions helped prevent further deaths during Thursday’s shooting at Silver Rail Elementary School.
The teacher confronted the gunman inside a classroom, throwing her phone at him before tackling and fighting him. A 36-year-old father of two students then entered the scene with a legally owned pistol and shot the attacker multiple times, killing him shortly before police arrived.
Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz praised the teacher’s actions at a news conference on Friday, saying she had almost certainly prevented further bloodshed. The teacher was not injured, and officials did not publicly identify her.
The victims included three children aged 5, 8 and 11, as well as 25-year-old teacher Meghan Lambert. A 7-year-old child was wounded and remained in serious but stable condition, while another teacher suffered serious but non-life-threatening injuries.
Police identified the shooter as Griffin J. John II, a former special-needs student at the school. He was armed with a shotgun and fired about 15 rounds inside the classroom, while carrying another 44 rounds, police said.
Investigators are working to establish why the teenager attacked the school and how he obtained a Maverick 88 pump-action 12-gauge shotgun. Krantz said authorities wanted answers but acknowledged that the investigation might never establish the full reason for the attack.
The father who shot the gunman was identified by his family as Kaylub Giamanco. His mother, Kenda Freeman, told The New York Times that he was not seeking recognition and wanted to thank emergency responders, school staff and the wider community for their support. He also requested privacy and declined to speak to the media.
Police said the shooting began after the teenager was seen throwing his weapon over the school fence and climbing onto the grounds. A driver passing in a truck confronted him verbally, and the teenager opened fire on the vehicle before shooting through locked glass doors and entering a classroom used by students with special needs.
Officers arrived within three minutes of the first emergency call, Krantz said, but the gunman was already dead. Authorities continued investigating the circumstances leading up to the attack.
The shooting deeply affected the local community. Students in nearby classrooms heard the gunfire, including nine-year-old fourth-grader Kalani Journeigh, who told Reuters that she and her classmates were terrified and feared they might die. She said a friend was planning to receive therapy after the experience.
Residents gathered outside the school on Friday to mourn the victims, placing flowers and candles near the police cordon. Michael Zappa, a 71-year-old neighbour, praised the father for intervening and said his actions had saved many lives.
Lambert’s family described her work at Silver Rail as her dream job. In a statement read at Friday’s news conference, her relatives said she had always stood up for people who were vulnerable and for those with special needs. They also praised Giamanco and expressed gratitude for his actions.
The attack adds to the continuing toll of gun violence at US schools. The K-12 School Shooting Database reported 149 incidents this year involving a gun being fired or brandished at a school, or gunfire striking school property, leaving 118 people wounded or killed. The Gun Violence Archive separately recorded 371 mass shootings since January, using a definition that counts incidents in which at least four people are shot, excluding the attacker.
