A father who shot dead a gunman at his two daughters’ school in the US state of Oregon has described “hearing children pleading for their lives” and his anguish over those he could not save.
Three students and a teacher were killed by a 16-year-old former student at Silver Rail Elementary School earlier this month. The attacker was then killed by parent Kaylub Giamanco.
“I want to apologise for not saving their babies,” Giamanco, who has been hailed as a hero, said of his thoughts for the parents of the children killed in an interview with Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) that aired on Friday.
“The gratitude for saving people’s children is awesome, but there were ones that I didn’t save.”
Giamanco, 36, said he wanted to meet the victims’ families 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.
“I would love to give her a hug because that’s a real true hero,” he said.
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 also killed, another child and a teacher were wounded.
Giamanco told OPB the day of the attack began with breakfast and packed lunches. He and his wife 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.