On November 10, 2026, a father who saved his daughters by shooting a gunman at their Oregon elementary school appeared on CBS Mornings for his first network television interview. He provided a detailed account of the events that unfolded on October 15 at Silver Rail Elementary School, where he is a parent and the shooter was a 16-year-old student.
The father, who is 36, was driving home for lunch when he noticed the shooter firing at a passing pickup truck. Seeing the threat, he followed the suspect into the building. He described entering a state of mission mode where his emotions faded and he focused solely on analyzing the situation to protect his children.
Inside the school, he crawled into the building and observed the gunman through a classroom window. The shooter was grappling with an unarmed teacher who had tackled him. The father noted that this distraction gave him a split-second opportunity to swing the door open and step in to finish the confrontation.
After firing the first shot, the father said the gunman was still alive and struggling with his weapon. The shooter appeared to be trying to say something, but the father chose not to listen. He recalled thinking that the man had already taken the lives of innocent children, specifically mentioning kids aged five, eight, and 11. He shouted at the gunman, stating that he did not care what the suspect had to say.
Once he confirmed the shooter was dead, the father dropped his gun and checked on the teacher involved in the struggle. He explained that she ran away from him, a reaction he understood because she likely feared he might be another active shooter. When police arrived, he raised his hands and asked for help before retrieving his weapon to return to his car.
His wife, Kelsey, realized something was wrong before he called. She had been tracking his location on her phone and noticed he had stopped at the school. She immediately drove to the scene to meet him. The father admitted that he did not feel scared during the event itself, but the emotions flooded in after he called his wife and reunited with his children.
Since the shooting, the father has been processing the trauma. He described feeling fear and chest palpitations as the gravity of the situation settled in. He finds it difficult to sleep, often lying awake at night as he hears the screams of children in his mind. To manage these thoughts, he frequently rides his motorcycle or dirt bikes.
He has not returned to his job as a carpenter and is considering a career change. He is contemplating starting a nonprofit focused on mental health and school security. His 10-year-old daughter, whom he describes as intellectual, has had conversations with him about the event, where he explained that he did what he felt was right to protect them.
The father finds solace in a famous quote from Spider-Man regarding power and responsibility. He feels that if he has the ability to be a protector and chooses not to act, he is at fault if people get hurt. This belief drives his current desire to make a difference in the aftermath of the tragedy.
The shooting resulted in the death of the 16-year-old gunman and injuries to a teacher and a seven-year-old student. The father’s actions have since made him a focal point of the community's response to the incident, and he continues to navigate life with the weight of his experience.
