'There's babies in there': Oregon father describes stopping school shooter

Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/theres-babies-in-there-oregon-father-describes-stopping-school-shooter Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Story Transcript Audio WATCH: 'I'm just a carpenter from Bend': Father who killed Silver Rail school shooter grapples with the aftermath Read the Full Transcript Notice: Transcripts are machine and human generated and lightly edited for accuracy. They may contain errors. Geoff Bennett: There's a new interview today with the first detailed comments from the man who stopped a school shooter in Bend, Oregon, one week ago. Three students and a teacher were killed before the suspect was shot and killed by a father who has children of his own at the Silver Rail Elementary School.That man is Kaylub Giamanco, who is a carpenter. He told our colleagues at Oregon Public Broadcasting in this exclusive interview that he was heading home for lunch and driving by the school when he saw the shooter carrying a shotgun. Kaylub Giamanco, Stopped School Gunman: And then I proceeded into the parking lot, and I saw him walking all the way across the school, and I just was in full panic. Like, no, there's children, there's babies in there.And I told my Siri to call 911. And the dispatch had picked up. And I was reporting the incident. But she was asking questions that they frustrated me, and I understand there's protocol, but she was asking me, do I know the person, all these things.And I said: "I'm sorry. I have to go in. People are going to die."And then I peeked through the window, and, at this point, I found my opportunity, and I seen a teacher on the left struggling with the gunman on the right with the rifle. And I knew that they were -- they were both side to me, and I knew that he did not know that I was there. And so at that point, I swung the door out and open, and I stepped in and I fired.And they dropped to the ground, and the teacher sprang out of the building, thinking that I was a second shooter, and I could see the fear in her eyes, and that did hurt a lot. But I could see the fear in her eyes. She left the room, and this happens in seconds.And then I looked down at the gunman, and he was scrambling for his weapon. And I looked at him and I shot him two more times to make sure that he couldn't move, because I was afraid of him shooting anybody else. Geoff Bennett: Giamanco also spoke of how he felt after he took down the shooter and of that day's larger tragedy. Kaylub Giamanco: Felt like I was having a heart attack almost the entire time. I have never had so much chest pain. I mean, I can't tell you what it feels like to take a life. It's really not -- that's not how I thought that my Thursday was going to go.But I can tell you that I genuinely feel like I was supposed to be there. And if I wasn't there, I just don't know what would have happened. The teacher that was wrestling with the gun with the gunman, I just -- I want to recognize her. She gave me the opportunity to make my shot without losing my life.I saw a clear shot to where I did not have to take her life. Without her and that little spur-of-the-moment delay, I very much feel like I would have been facing the shooter head on, and we could have both died, or I could have died, and I felt like I was the last line of defense between me and the rest of the children in the school.I don't know her name. I would love to know her name. I would love to give her a hug, because that's a real true hero to not have a weapon and to put yourself in between your babies and a firearm. It's a lot, you know?I really did want to speak with the families and the victims and just cry with them and hold them. I want to apologize for not saving their babies. That's probably the biggest thing for me right now, because the gratitude for saving people's children is awesome, but there's ones that I didn't save, and that's probably the hardest thing for me right now. Geoff Bennett: Thank you again to our colleagues at Oregon Public Broadcasting for that interview. Listen to this Segment