Staffer who tackled Oregon school shooter speaks out: 'It all happened so fast'
Cassidy Schutz, a learning specialist at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, was the staffer who threw her phone at the shooter and tackled him.
Learning specialist Cassidy Schutz, employed at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon, stepped forward on Friday to recount her harrowing experience during an Oct. 15 mass shooting. Schutz, who was physically engaged in thwarting the assailant, expressed her anguish in a statement to Bend-La Pine Schools, wishing she had more time to save additional lives.
She lamented, "It all happened so fast, and I wish with everything in me that we had more time." Three students, a teacher, and the gunman lost their lives during the attack inside a special needs classroom. Schutz herself emerged unscathed. In her statement, Schutz expressed her sympathies for the victims, their families, the injured, and those present on the fateful day.
"My thoughts are with those who were lost, their families, those who were hurt, and those who were there that day. My heart is with you," Schutz added. School officials commended Schutz for her heroic actions in an interview the day following the incident. The school district's chief, Mike Krantz, highlighted her crucial role in the confrontation.
"It almost certainly helped prevent more bloodshed," Krantz stated. Meanwhile, the father of the gunman, who tragically ended his own life, expressed gratitude towards Schutz. In an interview with Oregon Public Broadcasting, Kaylub Giamanco lauded her as a true hero, saying, "I would love to give her a hug because that's a real true hero."
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