A mass shooting at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon, left three children, ages 5, 8 and 11, and a 54-year-old teacher dead on Thursday, October 15, before an armed community member chased down the 16-year-old suspect and fatally shot him inside the building. A 7-year-old student and a 54-year-old teacher were also critically injured and remain hospitalized.
Bend, Oregon is grieving after a gunman forced his way into Silver Rail Elementary School on Thursday afternoon and opened fire, killing four people before being shot and killed himself by a bystander police are now crediting with preventing an even greater tragedy.
How the Attack Unfolded
According to Bend Police, the rampage began around 12:59 p.m. when a caller reported someone firing a long gun at a vehicle near the school. The 16-year-old suspect, a Bend resident who police say used his mother’s pump-action shotgun, then turned the weapon on the school’s locked doors, shooting his way inside. The building went into lockdown around 1:01 p.m., and officers arrived on scene roughly a minute later.
By the time police made entry, the attack was already over. Dispatch audio shared by Broadcastify captured the moment responders realized the threat had ended: “Looks like the shooter has been neutralized — possibly shot by a father at the school.”
Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz later confirmed the account at a news conference. “A community member who had seen the suspect enter the school pursued him into the school and engaged him,” Krantz said. Only after the shooting stopped did officers enter and confirm the gunman was dead.
In the chaos, the suspect killed three children — ages 5, 8 and 11 — and a teacher. A 7-year-old student and a 54-year-old teacher were critically injured and transported to St. Charles Bend for treatment; their conditions have not been released.
The Community Member Who Stepped In
Police have confirmed that an armed bystander, not law enforcement, ended the attack, but as of Friday they had not officially released his identity. Family members, in an account relayed to local station Channel2 NOW, have identified him as a father of two Silver Rail students — reported in various accounts as Kaylub Giamanco or Kayleb Giamanco, with the spelling still unconfirmed.
According to that family account, he was returning home on his lunch break when he heard gunshots near the school and realized his daughters could be inside. Rather than waiting for police, he followed the gunman into the building, confronted him, and fatally shot him, bringing the attack to an end within minutes. Bend Police have not independently confirmed his identity or the detail that his own children were inside the school at the time, and those specifics should be treated as unconfirmed until authorities formally verify them.
Oregon Governor Tina Kotek publicly thanked the bystander for his actions while acknowledging the toll they may take on him. “To the community member who heroically intervened to stop further loss of life, your actions carry a heavy emotional burden, and I just want you to know that my thoughts are with you,” Kotek said.
Fifth-grade teacher Kathy Sheil Smith, who sheltered students in her classroom during the attack, echoed that sentiment. “That person saw something. They did something, and that took its own courage,” she said.
A Community in Mourning
Bend Mayor Melanie Kebler called it “an awful day for our community,” while Bend-La Pine Schools Superintendent Steve Cook thanked staff who “protected our kids today.” Students were evacuated from the school and bused to Journey Church for reunification with their families.
The Bend-La Pine School District canceled all classes and activities district-wide for Friday, October 16, and made crisis counseling available to students, families and staff. Hundreds of residents gathered Thursday night for a candlelight vigil at Drake Park to mourn the victims.
What Investigators Are Still Working to Confirm
The investigation into the shooting remains active, and several key details have not yet been made official. Authorities have not released the identities of the children and the teacher who were killed, nor have they confirmed the identity of the bystander credited with stopping the gunman. The motive behind the attack, and the full sequence of events inside the school, are also still under investigation.
As Bend works through the aftermath of one of the deadliest school shootings in Oregon’s history, the community’s focus has turned to supporting the families of the victims, the students and staff who survived, and the man whose split-second decision is being credited with saving far more lives than were lost.
