Teacher Fought Oregon School Gunman Before Armed Dad Stopped Him

A teacher at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon, threw her cellphone at a teenage gunman, tackled him and fought to take his shotgun before an armed father who had followed the attacker inside shot him, Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz said at a news conference Friday, according to CBS News and the BBC.

“She was not injured in that incident, but she almost certainly helped prevent more bloodshed,” Krantz said of the teacher, CBS News reported. Krantz also praised the teacher “who was willing to stand and fight for her children,” according to the BBC’s live coverage of the briefing. Police have not publicly named her.

In addition to the hero bystander who stepped in to stop a gunman at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon, authorities say a teacher threw her phone at the suspect, tackled him and fought to take his firearm away. pic.twitter.com/11ElaZ4zRd

— CBS News (@CBSNews) October 16, 2026

How the attack was stopped

Krantz said the 36-year-old man who stopped the attack had parked at the school and taken out a .40-caliber pistol that was legally secured in his car, the BBC reported. The chief said the man entered through the doors the gunman had forced open, heard gunshots and found the suspect in a physical struggle with the teacher. “He then went to the classroom where the struggle was under way and fired his weapon, striking the suspect multiple times,” Krantz said, according to the BBC.

The man’s family identified him as Kaylub Giamanco, a lifelong Bend resident with two daughters at the school, CBS News reported. His brother, Kyle Giamanco, told NBC News that Giamanco is a carpenter who saw the gunman enter the school while on his lunch break, holds a concealed-weapon permit and decided to follow him inside. In a statement, the family said Giamanco “is not seeking recognition, but instead wishes to express his gratitude to the first responders, school personnel, and community for the outpouring of love and support,” according to CBS News. The family asked for privacy and said they will not give interviews, CBS reported.

Krantz said the gunman shot through a glass entrance to get into the school, fired at least 15 shots and still had about 44 more rounds with him when he was stopped, according to the BBC. Police said the attacker was a 16-year-old Bend resident who had previously attended the school, CBS News reported. Daily Beltway is not naming him because he was a minor. Krantz told reporters police would identify the suspect only once, the BBC reported. CBS News, citing law enforcement sources, reported the shotgun was purchased by the suspect’s mother.

Victims and response

Three children, ages 5, 8 and 11, and a 25-year-old teacher were killed, and a student and a second teacher were hospitalized with critical injuries, police said, according to CBS News. Bend police communications manager Sheila Miller identified the slain teacher as Meghan Lambert and read a statement from her family saying Silver Rail was her first teaching job. “This was her dream job,” Miller said, according to the BBC.

Police first received a call at 12:59 p.m. local time Thursday from a person who said they were being shot at, and officers arrived minutes later to find the suspect already dead, Krantz said, according to NBC News. “To the people who showed courage in the face of such violence, and intervened to prevent this tragedy from being any worse, we owe you a debt of gratitude,” Krantz said at Friday’s briefing, the BBC reported.

President Donald Trump on Friday called Giamanco a “great hero,” CBS News reported. “Thank God we had him; otherwise, it would have been much worse,” Trump said, adding, “thank goodness for a man that had a gun and knew how to use it,” according to CBS. Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek praised the bystander who “heroically intervened to stop further loss of life,” CBS News reported.

Krantz said questions about the shooter’s motive may take time to answer, according to the BBC, and a search warrant was executed at the suspect’s home. The ATF and FBI are assisting the investigation, NBC News reported.

Reporting by Daily Beltway.