Oregon man who killed school shooter allegedly took part in military exercises with Iraq veterans | Oregon

New details are emerging about the parent who fatally shot the 16-year-old shooter who killed three children and a teacher in Oregon last week.

In a 2018 Facebook post, Kaylub Giamanco, the 36-year-old carpenter who shot and killed the shooter, said he had participated in “military shooting drills” with veterans who fought in Iraq.

In addition to the four people killed, the shooting in Bend left a seven-year-old student in the hospital, receiving “life-saving treatment,” and 54-year-old teacher Becky Drury suffered serious but non-life-threatening injuries.

The shooter, Griffin J John II, 16, first opened fire outside the school with a shotgun, aiming at a driver who tried to confront him. He then shot through the locked doors, forcing entry onto the elementary school campus.

Giamanco, who has two daughters at the school, was returning from his lunch break when he heard gunshots coming from the campus. He parked his car near the building, pulled a legally registered .40-caliber pistol out of his vehicle and ran inside, according to Bend police.

Before his arrival, a teacher threw a cell phone at the attacker, tackled him and tried to wrestle the weapon out of his hands. Shortly after, Giamanco fired several shots at point-blank range at the shooter, killing him.

In September 2018, Giamanco said he went “shooting with a group of guys who served together in combat in Iraq.” It is unclear whether this was part of a training exercise. Neither Bend police nor Giamanco and his family have linked the shooting drills to the incident.

After the shooting in Bend, Giamanco called his mother, Kenda Freeman, to recount the incident, she told CNN affiliate KOVR in Sacramento, where Freeman lives.

“He said, ‘Mom, I just shot and killed someone.’ And I said, ‘Kaylub, tell me about this,'” Freeman said.

He told his mother that he shot the attacker at point-blank range and killed him.

“It’s hard because I’m, well, I’m grateful that my babies are OK,” Freeman told KOVR. “There are babies that aren’t. And it’s… it’s hard to swallow, because my heart goes out to those families. They weren’t able to bring their babies home.”

Giamanco’s brother, Kyle Giamanco, told the New York Post that he was uncomfortable with being portrayed as a hero.