Good Guy with a Gun Stops Bend Elementary School Shooter in Minutes
By Shasta Unfiltered
October 20, 2026
In Bend, Oregon, a 36-year-old father armed with a legally carried pistol ended a deadly school shooting within minutes—before police even entered the building. On October 15, 16-year-old Griffin J. John II killed three children and a teacher at Silver Rail Elementary School. The rampage stopped when Kaylub Giamanco, the father of two students at the school, followed the shooter inside and shot him dead.
Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz described the sequence as fast and contained. John, a former special education student who was no longer enrolled in the district, approached the school around 12:58 p.m. He threw a shotgun over the fence, climbed over, and fired at a red pickup truck whose driver had confronted him. He then shot through the glass of locked side doors and entered a special education classroom.
Inside, he fired roughly 15 rounds from a Maverick 88 pump-action 12-gauge shotgun. An unnamed teacher threw her cellphone at him, tackled him, and fought for the weapon. She was not injured. Giamanco, who had been driving by on his lunch break and had seen the confrontation outside, retrieved his legally secured .40-caliber pistol from his vehicle and entered the school. He found the teacher struggling with the shooter and fired multiple times, killing John. Officers arrived at approximately 1:02 p.m. and found the shooter already dead. He had about 44 additional rounds of ammunition with him.
The Armed Citizen
Giamanco is a lifelong Bend resident and carpenter. His mother, Kenda Freeman, confirmed his identity and said he is the father of two daughters who attend Silver Rail. Family members said he is not seeking recognition. Police and officials, including Oregon Governor Tina Kotek, credited his actions—and those of the teacher who tackled the shooter—with preventing further deaths. President Trump called Giamanco a hero who “took care of business.”
This is a clear example of a lawfully armed private citizen stopping an active shooter before law enforcement could respond. The entire deadly phase of the attack lasted only a few minutes.
Oregon Concealed Carry and School Policies
Oregon is a shall-issue state for Concealed Handgun Licenses (CHLs). Residents age 21 and older who pass a background check and demonstrate handgun competence can obtain a CHL from their county sheriff; the license is valid for four years and allows concealed carry of a loaded handgun. Oregon does not recognize out-of-state permits. Open carry is generally legal without a permit, though many cities restrict loaded open carry for non-CHL holders.
State law (ORS 166.370) generally makes possessing a firearm in a public building, including a school, a felony, but provides an affirmative defense for valid CHL holders. However, under ORS 166.377, school boards may adopt a policy eliminating that defense on their grounds (and must post signs if they do). Bend-La Pine Schools adopted such a ban in 2021 (Policy KGBB-BP), prohibiting firearms on campus except for unloaded guns locked in vehicles. Staff are barred from carrying even with a CHL. In districts that have not opted out, a teacher with a CHL would have the state-law defense, though employment policies may still prohibit it. In this case, the district’s policy meant no staff member could be armed when the attack began.
Weapon Source
Law enforcement sources told multiple outlets, including The New York Times, CNN, and CBS, that the shotgun was purchased legally by John’s mother, Shauntai May Nickerson, around his 16th birthday in August 2026. It was registered to her. Oregon law allows a parent to provide a shotgun to a minor for hunting or target practice. How the teenager gained access remains under investigation. Nickerson has told reporters she saw no warning signs and wished she could have prevented the attack. John had no known prior criminal history as a juvenile. He was an enrolled member of the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians.
The Victims
Three boys and one teacher were killed in the special education classroom:
Rhoam Summer, 5, a kindergartener described by his family as a bright, playful child who loved dinosaurs, art, and stuffed animals.
Two other boys, ages 8 and 11 (names withheld at family request).
Megan Lambert, 25, a special education teacher who had recently started full-time at the school in what her family called her “dream job.” She was a Bend native and Boise State graduate.
Two others were seriously injured: 7-year-old Saylor Graham (who has a rare genetic condition and uses a wheelchair) and 54-year-old educational assistant Becky Drury. Both are recovering.
Aftermath
Schools in the Bend-La Pine district closed. Vigils drew thousands. Memorials of flowers, crosses, and stuffed animals appeared outside the school. The motive remains unknown; investigators continue reviewing electronic devices seized from the shooter’s home. Rhoam Summer’s parents have retained attorneys to examine school security protocols and the weapon's origin. Chief Krantz has said some questions may never be fully answered.
As of October 20, no charges have been filed or publicly indicated against Kaylub Giamanco. Police and state officials have treated his intervention as justified and life-saving. Oregon law provides both a defense-of-others justification for the use of force and a “choice of evils” (necessity) defense under ORS 161.200 that covers entering restricted school grounds to stop an imminent mass shooting. Given the clear facts, official praise, and available legal defenses, charges against him are highly unlikely.
In California, the rules are stricter still. Under the Gun-Free School Zone Act (Penal Code § 626.9), possession of a firearm on K-12 school grounds is a felony in nearly all circumstances. A 2017 law (AB 424) eliminated school superintendents' prior authority to grant written permission for staff with a concealed-carry license to keep a firearm on campus. Today, ordinary teachers and other non-security staff—even those with a valid CCW—are prohibited from carrying on school property. The only common exceptions are peace officers and certain authorized security personnel. Unlike Oregon, where most districts still leave the CHL affirmative defense intact, and only a minority (including Bend-La Pine) have opted to ban staff carry, California imposes a statewide prohibition with no local opt-in for armed teachers. In the Bend incident, the district’s policy left no armed staff inside the building; California’s uniform ban would have produced the same outcome.
This tragedy is another reminder that seconds matter in an active shooter event. In this case, an armed parent who happened to be nearby and prepared to act ended the threat before more lives were lost.
Readers:
Clearly, Gun Free School Zone laws are not going to stop another Griffin John from walking into a school with a loaded weapon. Should California reconsider its strict laws that prevent properly trained teachers and citizens from being armed in schools? Let Shasta Unfiltered know your thoughts.
