‘It all happened so fast’: Silver Rail teacher who fought off school shooter releases first statement

The teacher, credited with preventing more deaths in a shooting at Silver Rail Elementary School, issued her first public statement since battling the school attacker earlier this month.

Cassidy Schutz, a certified learning specialist at Silver Rail, is the staff member who police say fought off the 16-year-old who killed three students, a teacher and injured others on October 15.

Schutz released a statement Friday to the Bend-La Pine Schools District..

“There are no words to describe the depth of sadness I feel following the events of October 15,” Schutz said in a statement. “This is not a story. This is a horrible, heartbreaking tragedy, and these are our real lives.”

Schutz then described the heartbreak she felt for everyone affected that day and the healing journey she hopes the community will take alongside her.

“My thoughts are with those who went missing, their families, those who were injured and those who were there that day,” she said. “My heart is with you.”

Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz called Schutz’s actions “heroic” during a news conference earlier this month. There, he recounted how she threw her cellphone at the shooter, tackled him and fought to take his gun. That fight was the opening point where Kaylub Giamanco, 36, said he managed to fatally shoot the teenage attacker.

Giamanco, in an Oct. 23 interview with OPB, had not yet learned Schutz’s name but credited him with giving him the chance to make his shot without losing his life.

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

Earlier this week, hundreds of people attended a memorial service for Megan Lambert, a Silver Rail teacher who died in the attack.

Another Silver Rail teacher, teaching assistant Becky Drury, was among those injured that day. She is recovering from her fourth surgery to reconstruct her arm after being seriously injured in the shooting.

This week, her husband, Will, thanked everyone on Drury’s GoFundMe page for their “generosity and kindness” as Drury continues the long road to a full recovery.

He also said he hoped this would be his last operation.

Below is Schutz’s full statement:

“There are no words to describe the depth of sadness I feel following the events of October 15. This is not a story. This is a horrible, heartbreaking tragedy, and these are our real lives. My thoughts are with those who were lost, with their families, with those who were injured, and with those who were there that day. My heart is with you. It all happened so quickly and I wish with everything in me that we had more time. The pain of this loss that I will carry with me forever. There are no words for this unimaginable reality that we face. My focus is on these families, our team, our school, and my own healing, I ask that you give me the time, space, and privacy I need to heal.