Armed Dad, Brave Staff Stopped Bend School Gunman

A father with a legally secured pistol in his car and a teacher willing to tackle a gunman helped stop a mass shooting at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon. Three children and 25-year-old special education teacher Megan Lambert died.

Bend-La Pine Schools said its “hearts are broken” after the attack. The district praised the educators and staff who responded: “They responded to an attack on their school in a way for which we are forever grateful.”

The Response That Stopped the Attack

Kaylub Giamanco, 36, a father of two Silver Rail students, was on his lunch break when he saw the teenage gunman enter the building carrying a shotgun. He didn’t wait. He retrieved a legally secured .40-caliber pistol from his car, pursued the shooter into the school and fatally shot him.

Inside, an unnamed teacher had already confronted the gunman. She threw a cellphone at him, then tackled him. Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz said Friday that the teacher “was willing to stand and fight for her children.” He added, “I think we all recognize that that is true heroism. She almost certainly helped avoid more bloodshed.”

The district also credited a learning specialist who “responded with extraordinary courage and engaged directly with the shooter.” The article doesn’t name her. The district said it was “so thankful for her safety and forever in her debt.” Krantz praised the rapid response from citizens and staff alike.

The Victims

Special education teacher Megan Lambert, 25, died in the attack. She joined the district this fall for her first teaching job. The district remembered her as a bright light for her “students, family, and our community,” adding, “She will be missed beyond words can express.”

The children killed were 5-year-old Rhoam Summer and two others, ages 8 and 11. Their families asked that their names not be made public. Police said a 7-year-old girl was injured and is recovering.

Becky Drury, an inclusion educational assistant, was also injured and is recovering. “We continue to wrap our arms around Becky Drury,” the district said in a social media post.

A Community Mourns

Residents gathered near the school Saturday to grieve. Mourners left flowers, offered prayers and wrote messages of support in chalk at a sidewalk memorial outside the building. Bend sits about 170 miles south of Portland.

In Bend, ordinary people acted before help could arrive. A teacher had only a cellphone. A learning specialist put herself between a gunman and her students. A parent ran toward danger, not away from it. Their choices came in seconds and shaped how many families are mourning today.

Why This Matters:

The Bend shooting tests assumptions about how school violence ends. Here, a teacher fought back, and a lawful gun owner with his weapon securely stored in his car got inside fast. Police Chief Krantz said the teacher’s actions likely prevented more deaths. That reality will fuel debate over school security, staff preparedness and the role of armed, law-abiding citizens in the first minutes of an attack, when seconds count and police are still en route. Communities and school boards will weigh which protections work and who should provide them. For families in Bend, those questions come after an unbearable loss.