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

The father who shot dead a gunman during a school shooting in Oregon says he is tormented by grief for the children he could not save.

Kaylub Giamanco, 36, killed the 16-year-old former student who opened fire at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon, where his two daughters are pupils. Three students — all boys, aged five, eight and 11 — and a teacher were killed in the attack before the father intervened.

In an interview with Oregon Public Broadcasting, Giamanco described feeling like the "last line of defence" between the gunman and the children. "I want to apologise for not saving their babies," he said of the victims' families. "The gratitude for saving people's children is awesome, but there were ones that I didn't save."

He credited a teacher who fought the attacker with giving him the chance to act, calling her "a real true hero." Police said the teacher threw her phone at the gunman, tackled him and struggled for his weapon.

Giamanco, a carpenter, had taken his lunch to work but decided to go home to eat with his wife instead — the chance decision that put him at the school. He retrieved a handgun from his vehicle and called emergency services before going inside. "I told myself this is probably the last thing that I'm ever going to do," he said.

Oregon Governor Tina Kotek praised his intervention while acknowledging the heavy emotional burden he now carries. Giamanco said he lies awake replaying the attack. "I relive, I see faces, I hear voices, I hear screams."