Bend School Shooter Stopped by Father Kaylub Gianmarco

A 36-year-old carpenter and father of two students at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon, ended a mass shooting Thursday that left three children and one teacher dead. Kaylub Gianmarco confronted and shot the gunman during the attack, according to his mother, Kenda Freeman. Law enforcement officials subsequently confirmed Gianmarco as the bystander credited with neutralizing the threat.

Gianmarco’s two daughters attend the school where the massacre unfolded. His brother, Kyle Gianmarco, told reporters that the carpenter is deeply shaken by the violence and has no intention of speaking publicly about his actions. Armed bystanders stopping active shooters remain statistically rare. According to FBI data on active shooter incidents, civilians without law enforcement training successfully end attacks in only a small fraction of cases, usually by physically subduing the attacker rather than using a firearm. Gianmarco’s intervention prevented what investigators are now assessing could have been a significantly higher casualty count inside the Deschutes County elementary school.

The victims killed in the gunfire spanned ages five to twenty-five. Police identified the youngest as 5-year-old Rhoam Summer. The other two students were 8 and 11 years old. Authorities have not yet released the names of the older children pending full family notification protocols.

Meghan Lambert, a 25-year-old teacher, was also killed. Her relatives described her as a fierce advocate for children with special needs. “Meghan was compassionate and had a huge heart. She always fought for the underdog,” the Lambert family said in a statement read aloud during a police news conference Friday. They directed their gratitude toward the man who stopped the violence: “We want the bystander who intervened to know we know he is going through a rough time, but we are grateful and we think he is a hero.”

Silver Rail Elementary serves roughly 500 students from kindergarten through fifth grade within the Bend-La Pine Schools district. Following the shooting, the district suspended classes across all its facilities. Grief counselors and crisis response teams deployed to community centers throughout Bend on Friday to support students, parents, and faculty.

Oregon maintains some of the more restrictive firearms laws in the United States, including Measure 114, which voters passed in 2022 to require permits for gun purchases and limit magazine capacities, though the measure has faced prolonged legal challenges in state and federal courts. The circumstances surrounding how the shooter obtained weapons at the Bend campus remain a central focus of the ongoing investigation.

The identities of the remaining two child victims are being withheld by the Deschutes County Medical Examiner’s Office until next-of-kin notifications are complete.