Father who killed Oregon school gunman describes anguish over children he couldn't save

A father who killed the gunman at his daughters' school in Oregon is struggling with the lives he could not save. The attacker had killed three students and a teacher before being killed by the father, Kaylub Giamanco. Giamanco, who has been hailed as a hero, said he wants to meet the families of the victims and 'cry with them and hold them.' He credited a teacher who fought the attacker with giving him the chance to intervene without losing his own life.

The students who were killed were all boys, aged five, eight and 11. They were among six people in total who were shot in a classroom at the school, police said. Alongside the teacher who was killed, another child and a teacher were wounded. Giamanco told OPB that the day of the attack began with breakfast and making packed lunches. He and his wife had spent extra time getting their daughters ready because it was school picture day. The carpenter had taken lunch to work but decided to go home to eat with his wife instead. That decision brought him past the school as the attack began.

He initially wondered whether someone carrying a long gun was playing a prank. Then he saw him fire at a pickup truck and head towards the school. Giamanco retrieved a handgun from his vehicle and called emergency services. 'I said, 'I'm sorry, I have to go in. People are going to die,' he told the broadcaster. He followed the attacker, who shot through the school's locked glass doors. Hearing children pleading for their lives and more gunfire, Giamanco crawled towards the building. 'I told myself this is probably the last thing that I'm ever going to do,' he said.

He crawled through a shattered window and reached the classroom, where a teacher was locked in a struggle with the gunman. He opened the door and fired. Giamanco told OPB he fired again when the attacker reached for his weapon. He then placed his own gun on the ground and raised his hands as an officer appeared. He described feeling like the 'last line of defence' between the children and the gunman, and said he 'was supposed to be there' that day. Afterwards, he called his wife to say he would not be home for lunch and that she needed to get to the school immediately. He then called his mother to tell her what had happened.