BEND, Ore. (AP) — In the middle of an October day, a 16-year-old boy threw a shotgun over a low chain-link fence. Then he climbed it himself.
There was a playground and a large grass field leading to an elementary school he once attended. Inside were hundreds of children, a handful of whom were in a special education class – just like him.
There was also a red truck. It was driven by the first of at least three people who risk their own lives to try to stop him, according to testimony from police and school officials.
The driver shouted and the boy started shooting. He hit the truck at least three times, but the driver was not injured: he drove onto the road and called 911.
Nearby was another driver, Kaylub Giamanco, a 36-year-old carpenter. He saw the boy shoot at the red truck and drive toward the school, Silver Rail Elementary. Giamanco’s children go there.
The boy walked along the side of the school until he came to a locked door. He blew out the windows with the shotgun.
Giamanco entered the parking lot. He also had a gun – a .40 caliber pistol legally stored in his vehicle.
In the classroom next to the broken door there were teachers and four children. Another teacher had taken a first grader to the bathroom.
The boy entered a classroom next to the door. He fired the shotgun and pulled the trigger. Again and again.
The teacher and first grader who had gone to the bathroom heard gunshots. They hid under a table in a nearby office.
Giamanco also heard the gunshots. He headed there.
One of the teachers in the class threw a phone at the shooter. Then, police say, she attacked him.
Inside the school, Giamanco saw a woman struggling with the boy for control of the shotgun. He shot the boy several times, killing him.
The teacher who fought with the boy was not injured. But three of the children in the class were killed. They were 5, 8 and 11 years old. Another was seriously injured.
A teacher in the class was killed: Megan Lambert, 25 years old. His family said that teaching was his dream job. Another teacher was shot in the arm and hand.
Linda Sánchez is the mother of a first grade boy who hid under the table with his teacher. She received a robocall about the lockdown and heard ambulances and police cars rushing to the school.
“My heart was pounding because he was in there,” Sanchez said.
The whole event lasted only a few minutes. Police arrived quickly, just before Giamanco shot the boy, Griffin John II. Subsequently, investigators discovered up to 15 spent shell casings. The boy still had about 44 rounds left unused.
At a news conference Friday, Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz and others expressed gratitude to those who did not stand idly by.
“I don’t think we can underestimate or underestimate that courage,” Krantz said. “When someone is willing to risk their own life for others, we recognize that. The quick thinking to observe, then park and follow someone into the school is incredible and has undoubtedly saved people.
“If it came natural as a protective father, that’s great,” Krantz said.
“The teacher who is willing to stand up and fight for her children – that’s incredible,” the chief added. “We all recognize that this is true heroism. We don’t see that much in society.”
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Johnson reported from Seattle.
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