Donald Trump to invite hero father who killed Oregon school shooter to the White House to receive bravery honour

President Trump is set to invite a hero father who killed a school shooter to the White House.

Kaylub Giamanco, 36, who has two daughters at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon, was driving past the school during his lunch break on Thursday when he saw a gunman throw a weapon over a wall.

Giamanco grabbed his own legally-concealed .40 caliber pistol and raced into the school where the 16-year-old gunman, Griffin J. John II, had already murdered three special needs pupils and their teacher with a Mossberg Maverick pump-action shotgun, on what was the institution's picture day. 

The gunman, who had attended the same school as a special needs pupil in around 2021, had discharged 15 bullets but had 44 additional rounds in his backpack.

Giamanco saw a teacher struggling with the shooter and opened fire, killing John instantly.

The teacher later revealed she threw her cellphone at John to ‘distract’ him before grappling with him to try and wrestle away his weapon.

Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz called Giamanco ‘a true hero’ saying: ’His quick-thinking to observe and then follow someone into the school is incredible and undoubtedly saved lives. 

'And that is something that came naturally as a protective father. The teacher who is willing to stand and fight for her children is incredible. We all recognise that is true heroism and we don’t see that a lot in society.’

Trump called Giamanco ‘a great hero’ and said he is planning to invite the carpenter to the White House to receive a civilian bravery honor.

The president said: ‘We had a great hero that went in and did the business. He took care of business. Thank God we had him otherwise it would have been much worse. It’s a terrible thing but thank goodness for a man that had a gun and knew how to use it.’

Giamanco’s mother Kenda Freeman said: ‘He is not seeking recognition but wishes to express his gratitude to the first responders, school personnel and community for the outpouring of love and support.’

She told a local CBS news station her son was ‘traumatised’ and had called her moments after the shooting to say: ‘A man went into my daughters’ school and um, shot kids, and I looked at him point blank and I shot and killed him, mum.’

She added: ‘I told him he saved a lot of lives and he said, "Mum, I couldn’t save them all".’

The mother of the gunman told reporters she was ‘devastated’ but refused to confirm she had purchased the shotgun for her son for his 16th birthday.

Shauntai Nickerson said: ‘I wish I could have done something. I’m so sorry. I miss my boy.’

Two of the victims were five-year-old Rhoam Summer and teacher Megan Lambert, 25.

Lambert’s family called her ‘compassionate with a huge heart’ adding in a statement: ‘She always fought for the underdog and those with special needs.’

The aunt of Rhoam, Swan Sheridan, said: ‘He never met a stuffed animal that he didn’t think needed to be rescued and cared for. He was a fearless climber, fast runner and loved reading.’

Two other children aged 8 and 11 whose names have not been released were also killed.

A seven-year-old victim was shot as they sat in a wheelchair and is now ‘stable’ in hospital as is 54-year-old teacher Becky Drury.

The shooting was the 28th mass killing in the US this year. 

The female teacher, as yet unnamed, who threw her phone and tackled the gunman to the ground is also being hailed as a hero for her role in the tragedy. 

Police Chief Krantz said the unidentified Silver Rail Elementary School teacher threw her cellphone at the gunman and then 'tackled him and fought to take the firearm from him.'

The police chief lauded the teacher who was 'willing to stand and fight for her children' as 'incredible.'

'We all recognize that is true heroism,' Krantz said. 'We don't see that a lot in society.'

The teacher was not injured but her 'incredible' actions 'almost certainly helped prevent more bloodshed,' Krantz added. Three children aged five, eight and 11 were killed in the attack, as well as 25–year–old teacher Meghan Lambert.

Joe Camarlinghi, the father of a third–grader at Silver Rail Elementary, said the tragic shooting on Thursday coincided with the school's annual picture day. 

Parents had sent their children off to school with wide smiles, ready for the camera. Instead of celebrating the occasion, they spent hours waiting to find out if their kids were alive.

As they gathered for the hopeful reunification, some parents realized that those school pictures would be the last ones ever taken of their children, Camarlinghi said.

'I would use the word sickening,' Camarlinghi told The Oregonian on Friday. 'You are seeing the faces of parents you've seen at pickup all feeling the same thing: is my child safe?'

Camarlinghi also praised hero dad Giamanco, who ran into the school to stop John's rampage. 

'Doing what he did, saving the lives that he did,' Camarlinghi told the outlet. 'It is the answer to the prayers of a lot of parents.'

Speaking of the anxiety as he waited to be reunited with his daughter, he said: 'It just builds and builds and builds, and there's a little bit of relief when I saw my daughter. 

'But it's so minor because you're feeling the hurt of friends, community members, and teachers. And so that's the part that today is still just processing.'

On Friday, Drury's husband asked for privacy during an 'unimaginably difficult time.'

'The kindness and concern shown to our family and everyone affected mean more than we can express,' he said in a statement to NBC News.

John fired as many as 15 shots during the shooting and had 44 left when he was shot dead, according to police.

The shooter fired on everyone inside a special education class, where he himself was a student when he attended the school as a young child.

Police said that John was so intent on targeting his former class that he ran around to the back entrance after being fired upon while trying to go in through the front.

John, who was not enrolled in a Bend public school at the time, traveled to Silver Rail Elementary on foot. The route is being investigated.

He threw the Maverick .88 12–gauge pump–action shotgun over the fence before jumping over but found himself blocked from entering.

He then ran to the back entrance and blasted his way in through a 'safety vestibule' system designed to keep children at the school safe from shooters.

Law enforcement remained unsure as to how John obtained his ammunition, saying the investigation was 'very active.'

Giamanco's wife Kelsey and brother Kyle, along with several of his friends, confirmed he was the hero who intervened by running inside the school.

He holds a concealed carry permit and is friends with the family of the seven-year-old in the wheelchair who was wounded.

John, who looked gangly with a patchy mustache and goatee, could be seen staring into the camera with a sullen glaze in a haunting photo posted by his mother Shauntai Nickerson last month.

Nickerson told a TV station in 2020 that she was pleased students were going back to the classroom because her son was struggling with distance learning during Covid lockdowns.

'I think it will be great for Griffin, because I am not certified teaching a special needs student,' she told KTVZ 21. 'And I think it will be great for my son to get the help that he needs from the skilled teachers that he needs to get it from.'

The future murderer was in the Nurturing Empathy Safety and Trust program, which helped special education students 'experiencing intensive behavioral and social skills challenges.'

John used his mother's shotgun to carry out the massacre, which police said was bought about the time of his 16th birthday.

Nickerson insisted to reporters who confronted her outside her home in Bend that her son was 'a good boy' and she would have stopped him if she could. John's motive is unknown.

Police raided his family's home on Thursday night, seizing computers and other electronic devices. Family was said to be cooperative.

The first victim of Thursday's shooting was named as five–year–old Rhoam Summer by his father, Kelik Summer.

Summer wrote on Facebook: 'Today has been the worst day of my life. My son Rhoam was killed in a school shooting.

'We are broken and lost, but are surrounded by friends and family who are keeping us safe.'

Lambert, of Bend, was identified by police and family on Friday at a press conference.

Her family remembered her as having a passion for sports and an ambition for teaching. She 'lit up the room' and was 'compassionate' with a 'huge heart.'

That was exemplified when Lambert turned down pay for her first season as a volleyball coach so that families 'who couldn't afford to participate could have the chance to play the sport she loved,' according to her family's statement.

Lambert's family emphasized that she was funny, opinionated, 'fought for the underdog' and 'those with special needs.'

'Meghan loved those children,' the family said.

Lambert's goal was to be an educator and teach in the school district she 'loved growing up in,' her family said.

Her first job as a teacher was at Silver Rail Elementary, according to her family, though she had been a substitute teacher there 'for many years.'

'She loved Silver Rail,' the statement from Lambert's family continued. 'This was her dream job.'