Oregon teen gunman was tackled by ‘heroic’ teacher then shot by students’ father

A 16-year-old gunman attacked Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon, killing four people and wounding two others. Police said all the victims were shot in one classroom. The attack ended within minutes, after a teacher confronted the shooter and a father entered the building behind him.

The teacher threw her phone at the gunman, then tackled and fought with him. Police Chief Mike Krantz called her actions heroic and said she was not injured. Kenda Freeman said her son, Kaylub Giamanco, followed the gunman into the school and shot him. Giamanco was the father of two girls at the school.

Police said the shooter was found dead minutes after the first calls for help. Governor Tina Kotek said Giamanco helped end the rampage as officers began arriving. The interventions may have limited further harm, although officials did not provide a precise count of lives saved.

A pump-action shotgun is a firearm that stores several shells and uses a sliding fore-end, often called the pump, to load the next shell. After firing, the shooter moves the pump backward and forward. That motion ejects the spent shell and chambers another one. The process matters because it allows repeated shots without inserting a new shell after every discharge.

The article identifies the weapon as a 12-gauge, pump-action shotgun. Police said the attacker fired as many as 15 shots and still had about 44 rounds remaining when he was killed. Those figures show that the gun and its ammunition supported continued firing during the attack.

The article does not explain the weapon’s exact capacity or loading setup. It does report that the shotgun was bought by the attacker’s mother. Police were still investigating how he obtained it, making access a central unanswered issue.

The attack killed four people and critically wounded two others. The dead children were five, eight and 11 years old. The wounded were a seven-year-old child and a 54-year-old teacher, Becky Drury. The article describes the three child victims’ ages but does not give the ages of every person killed.

Police Chief Mike Krantz said the attacker fired as many as 15 shots from a 12-gauge shotgun. He also said the gunman had about 44 rounds remaining when he was killed. The figures indicate that the shooting involved a large supply of ammunition, even though police did not provide a complete firing sequence.

The gunman was also found dead inside the school, but the article’s total of four people killed refers to the attack’s victims. Police said all the victims were shot in the same classroom. The wounded teacher later underwent surgery for injuries to her left arm and right hand.

The teacher’s intervention disrupted the attack inside the classroom. She threw her phone at the gunman, then tackled and fought him. Police Chief Mike Krantz called the response heroic and said she was not injured. Her actions placed her between the shooter and others while the emergency response was still developing.

Kaylub Giamanco then followed the gunman into the school and shot him. His mother, Kenda Freeman, said he was not seeking recognition and wanted to thank first responders, school personnel and the community. Governor Tina Kotek said he helped end the rampage as police began arriving.

Police found the shooter dead minutes after the first calls for help. The article does not give an exact number of people protected by either intervention. However, officials and witnesses said the teacher’s resistance and the father’s intervention stopped further violence before law enforcement fully took control.

The article connects the target classroom to the gunman’s school history. Authorities said Griffin J. John II had been a special needs student at Silver Rail Elementary and attacked a classroom with special needs students. Police said they still did not know why he attacked, so the article does not establish a motive.

The school district’s Nest program stood for Nurturing Empathy, Safety and Trust. It aimed to help students facing intensive behavioral and social skill challenges. The attacker’s mother, Shauntai Nickerson, said in a 2020 interview that he participated in the program when he was 10. She also said he struggled with learning from home during the pandemic.

The program’s connection provides background, not an explanation for the shooting. Officials continued seeking answers about the motive and how the teenager obtained the shotgun. The article gives no evidence that the Nest program caused or predicted the attack.

After the shooting, the attacker’s mother, Shauntai Nickerson, apologized to the victims’ families and said she wished she could have prevented it. The gunman’s family also faced scrutiny over how he obtained the pump-action shotgun. Kenda Freeman spoke for her son, Kaylub Giamanco, who shot the attacker and asked for privacy.

School personnel and first responders responded during the crisis. A teacher confronted the gunman, while police arrived, investigated emergency calls and found the shooter dead. The wounded teacher, Becky Drury, received hospital treatment and surgery. Police continued examining the motive and the weapon’s source.

The wider community gathered around the school with flowers, balloons and stuffed animals. Parents expressed gratitude that someone pursued the shooter before law enforcement arrived. President Donald Trump praised the armed father, while Governor Tina Kotek acknowledged the emotional burden of his actions.

The article states that Oregon law permits a minor to possess a shotgun if a parent provides it or another person supplies it with parental consent. That rule matters because investigators were still trying to determine how the 16-year-old obtained the pump-action shotgun. His mother was identified as the purchaser, but the article does not establish the exact transfer.

In this case, access preceded a school shooting involving up to 15 shots and about 44 rounds remaining. The legal question is therefore connected to practical control: who bought the gun, who possessed it, and under what consent. The article gives no conclusion about whether anyone violated Oregon law.

Across the United States, firearm-access rules differ among states and can include age limits, parental-consent provisions, storage requirements and transfer restrictions. Those differences can shape how easily minors reach guns. However, the source does not compare state laws or prove that any particular rule caused this attack.