Oregon Man Who Killed School Shooter Took Part in Iraq Veteran Drills

New details are surfacing about Kaylub Giamanco, the 36-year-old carpenter who fatally shot the 16-year-old gunman who killed three children and a teacher at an elementary school in Bend, Oregon, last week, according to The Guardian.

What happened at the school in Bend?

The shooter, 16-year-old Griffin J. John II, opened fire outside the school with a shotgun, first aiming at a driver who tried to confront him, the Guardian reported. He then shot through locked doors to force his way onto the elementary campus. A seven-year-old student was hospitalized and listed as receiving "lifesaving care," and 54-year-old teacher Becky Drury suffered serious but non-life-threatening injuries, according to the report.

Who stopped the shooter?

Giamanco has two daughters enrolled at the school. He was driving back from his lunch break when he heard gunfire coming from the campus, Bend police told the Guardian. He parked nearby, grabbed a legally registered .40-caliber pistol from his vehicle, and ran inside. Before Giamanco arrived, a teacher had thrown a cellphone at John and tackled him, trying to wrestle the gun away. Giamanco then fired several shots at close range, killing John, police said.

What did Giamanco say about military-style drills?

In a September 2018 Facebook post, Giamanco wrote that he had gone "shooting with a group of guys who served in combat together in Iraq," describing the outing as "military shooting drills," the Guardian reported. It is not clear from the post whether this was a formal training exercise or an informal range trip with veteran friends.

Neither Bend police nor Giamanco and his family have drawn a direct line between that 2018 post and his actions during the shooting, according to the Guardian's reporting. No agency has said the drills prepared him for the encounter, and no further detail about who organized the outing or how often it happened has been reported.

What did Giamanco tell his family afterward?

Giamanco called his mother, Kenda Freeman, shortly after the shooting to tell her what happened. Freeman, who lives in Sacramento, recounted the call to CNN affiliate KOVR, which the Guardian cited in its report.

"He said, 'Mom, I just shot and killed somebody.' And I said, 'Kaylub, tell me about it,'" Freeman said, according to the Guardian. Giamanco told his mother he shot the assailant at point-blank range.

What is still unconfirmed?

Authorities have not released the names of the veterans involved in the 2018 outing Giamanco described, nor confirmed whether that group still meets or trains together. No official statement has tied the 2018 post to Giamanco's response during the shooting. Bend police have not released additional detail beyond confirming the sequence of events and Giamanco's licensed firearm.

Families with children at the school are being directed to the district and local police for updates on counseling and campus security changes, though specifics on those steps were not detailed in available reporting.