() — In a video posted on social media, the mother of Kaylub Giamanco, the hero who likely saved countless young lives by neutralizing the crazed teen who had gone on a murderous shooting spree at his daughters’ elementary school, described the phone call she received from her son just moments after his harrowing ordeal.
The rampage occurred in a Bend, Oregon, special needs classroom, according to Bend-La Pine Schools Superintendent Steven Cook, who noted that the gunman had been a special needs student at the school.
Giamanco rushed into the school where he encountered, shot, and killed John J. Griffin II, 16, who had killed three young children — ages 5, 8, and 11 — and a teacher while wounding others.
His mom, Kenda Freeman, described how the event has left him traumatized.
“Mom, I just shot and killed somebody,” the tearful mom recounted. “A man went into my daughter’s school and shot kids. And I looked at him point blank and I shot and killed him, Mom.”
“I told him he was a hero, he did what he had to do, and that he did the right thing, and that I was proud of him and that he was a hero and he saved a lot of lives,” she said. “And he said, ‘Mom, I couldn’t save them all.’”
As he drove past his daughters’ school on his way home for his lunch break, the 36-year-old carpenter “knew something was not right.”
“He pulled up onto the grass, grabbed his gun, and stalked the gunman back into the school,” Giamanco’s mom said. “He army-crawled through a window the gunman had shot out.”
“Kaylub has a genuine heart and he loves his community and his family and his children,” his mom said. “He’s just a good person, in general.”
“He’s having a hard time with it — again, the idea of not being able to save them all, right? When he closes his eyes and the things that he thinks about: ‘What could I have done differently? How could I have done it better?’ ” his mom said.
“It’s tough because, well, I’m thankful that my babies are OK. There are babies that are not, and that’s hard to swallow because my heart goes out to those families that didn’t get to bring their babies home,” she said, choking back tears.
“Hug your babies, love your neighbors,” she urged.
MOTHER OF HERO SPEAKS OUT 🙏🏼
Kaylub Giamanco’s mom just described the phone call she got moments after her son stopped the school shooter in Bend, Oregon.
“He said, Mom, I just shot and kiIIed somebody.”
She asked him to tell her about it.
“A man went into my daughter’s school and shot kids. And I looked at him point blank and I shot and kiIIed him, Mom.”
She told him he saved a lot of lives.
His answer: “Mom, I couldn’t save them all.”
He was driving home from lunch when he heard the shots. He pulled up onto the grass, grabbed his gun, and followed the gunman back into the school. He army-crawled through a window the shooter had already blasted out and ended the attack.
Three kids and a teacher were already gone. His own daughters were safe. Now he’s struggling with the ones he couldn’t reach and asking himself what he could have done differently.
This is what happens when a good man with a gun runs toward the sound of gunfire instead of waiting for someone else to show up.
THAT is what stopped more of them from dying.
Kaylub Giamanco is a hero.
— TONY™ (@TONYxTWO) October 17, 2026
