Hero teacher who took on Bend shooter speaks out as community prepares to reopen school

A teacher hailed as a hero for her quick action to stop the gunman who carried out a school shooting in Bend, Oregon, speaks out last month about her experience as the community prepares to send its children back to school.

“Everything happened so quickly, and I wish with all my being that we had more time,” Cassidy Schutz, a certified learning specialist at Silver Rail Elementary, said in a statement Friday.

After the shooting, Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz described an unnamed teacher’s “heroic action” to stop the shooter who opened fire in a special education classroom, killing three students and a teacher.

She threw her cellphone at the shooter and attacked him in an attempt to get the gun back before a parent at the school shot her, Krantz said.

His quick action “almost certainly helped prevent further bloodshed,” the chief said.

More than a week after the tragedy, Schutz came forward to address the incident in a statement released by the Bend-La Pine School District.

“There are no words to describe the depth of sadness I feel following the events of October 15,” Schutz said in the statement. “My thoughts are with those who went missing, their families, those who were injured and those who were there that day. My heart goes out to you.”

Another student and a teacher were also injured in the attack. Schutz was not injured, police said.

Schutz stressed that the “horrific, heartbreaking tragedy” is more than just a story to those living through it and asked for privacy as she navigates the aftermath.

“The pain of this loss I will carry forever. There are no words for this unimaginable reality we face. My focus is on these families, our team, our school and my own healing,” she said.

The father who helped stop the attack, Kaylub Giamanco, was carrying a legally secured .40-caliber pistol when he saw the shooter and followed him into the school.

In an interview with Oregon Public Broadcasting, Giamanco said he was grateful to Schutz — whose name he still didn’t know at the time — for his courageous action moments before he shot the shooter.

“I would love to give him a hug because he’s a real hero,” he said.

Bend-La Pine Schools Superintendent Steven Cook expressed gratitude to Giamanco and Schutz after the shooting.

“I believe your actions saved lives,” Cook said.

The community is now faced with the difficult task of returning to normal life in a context marked by inexplicable violence.

While other schools in the Bend-La Pine district resumed classes in the week following the shooting, Silver Rail Elementary School remains closed until Nov. 6, pending repairs to areas affected by the shooting.

“With an overwhelming 86.2% of families indicating a preference to return to Silver Rail Elementary, we plan to reopen Silver Rail for students and families who feel ready to return,” the district said in a statement last week.

A police officer was present at each school in the district the day they reopened, and a team of eight school resource officers will continue to rotate between schools, Bend-La Pine Schools said.

A community meeting is planned for Nov. 5, where school officials will answer questions about the shooting, school safety and reopening plans.