The teenage gunman who shot dead three children and a teacher in an Oregon school was a former special needs student there, officials said Friday, as they praised the heroism of people who helped to shorten the rampage.
The first alarm was raised by a driver who challenged the gunman, identified as 16-year-old Griffin John II, as he climbed a fence to get toward Silver Rail Elementary School on Thursday, police told a press conference.
As officers rushed to the scene, John blasted his way through locked doors with a pump-action 12-gauge shotgun and went straight to the school's special needs classroom.
He opened fire in the room, killing five-year-old Rhoam Summer, two boys aged eight and 11, and teacher Megan Lambert, 25.
Another young child and a teacher were injured in the attack as a third teacher threw her cellphone at John and began trying to wrestle the shotgun from him, Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz told reporters.
It was at this moment that a man identified by family as Kaylub Giamanco, a 36-year-old father of two girls at the school, rushed in with his legally-held weapon.
"He heard shooting and saw a teacher involved in a physical altercation with the suspect... and fired his weapon, striking the suspect multiple times," Krantz said.
"When someone is willing to risk their own life for others, we recognize that. The teacher who is willing to stand and fight for her children... incredible.
"That is true heroism, and we don't see that a lot in society."
Giamanco's mother told the local Fox affiliate she was "very proud" and that her son was "an absolute hero."
US President Donald Trump hailed Giamanco.
"It's a terrible thing, but thank goodness for a man that had a gun and knew how to use it," he told reporters.
Gun violence
On Friday, streets were quiet in Bend, an area known for its natural beauty, with hiking trails and ski slopes nearby that attract tens of thousands of visitors every year.
Kristen Vanetsky, 52, told AFP she was in shock.
"My grandson should be in his classroom, with all of his friends," she said.
"Everybody should be in there learning, having fun, looking forward to their weekend, and it's just vacant," she said. "There's nothing. Even the birds are not here."
As the city tried to process its tragedy, the contours of an argument that plays out after every US school shooting began to harden.
The powerful National Rifle Association (NRA) hailed the actions of the armed bystander.
"Yesterday's terrible act of violence in Oregon serves as another reminder of the importance of a law-abiding armed citizenry," the NRA said in a post on X.
The NRA has spent millions of dollars campaigning for gun rights and supporting politicians who block the limits on ownership that the vast majority of Americans support.
Gun control advocates lamented the availability of weaponry in a country where the number of gun-related deaths far outpaces that in most of the developed world.
"America's gun violence crisis is killing our babies. Enough is enough," gun-control group GIFFORDS said.
More than 360 mass shootings have been recorded across the United States this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive, which defines them as incidents in which at least four people are shot, excluding the gunman.
Loner
Officials offered few details about the suspect, except to say that he had previously been a special needs student at Silver Rail Elementary and was not enrolled in the local public school system at the time of the attack.
John's neighbors told AFP he was unsociable and only appeared to go out with his mother, who lived in the same modest home a few minutes from the school.
"He was a real loner," said one man, who asked not to be named.
"I always saw him in black, looking very serious and hunched over. He wouldn't say good morning or good evening."
On Friday the boy's mother -- named by media as Shauntai May Nickerson -- smoked a cigarette on the porch outside her apartment.
"If I could have prevented this, I would have," she said, according to The New York Times.