The daddy of a scholar killed in a faculty capturing in southern Alberta nearly 27 years in the past says forgiveness was on the coronary heart of how he tackled the tragedy.
Retired reverend Dale Lang misplaced his 17-year-old son, Jason, after the teenager was shot by a fellow scholar in a hallway at W.R. Myers Excessive Faculty in Taber, Alta., about 300 kilometres southeast of Calgary, in 1999.
The 14-year-old shooter, who additionally wounded one other scholar, was convicted of first-degree homicide and tried homicide and sentenced as a youth to a few years in jail and 7 years of probation.
“In our case, God granted us the grace to have the ability to forgive the boy who killed our son, and that was massively vital for us,” he stated in an interview Wednesday.
He shared his story once more after a mass capturing Tuesday in Tumbler Ridge, B.C., left 9 folks useless, together with the 18-year-old shooter.
Police stated the shooter killed her mom and 11-year-old stepbrother at a house within the city earlier than gunning down a trainer and 5 college students at the highschool and taking her personal life.
Lang stated he doesn’t know sufficient of the small print about what occurred in B.C. to talk instantly about it, aside from to say it’s a tragedy.
“I’m very unhappy to know that Tumbler Ridge will probably be going by some troublesome days forward, to say the least, and significantly the households which have misplaced folks,” stated Lang.
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“That’s a horrible tragedy that nobody ought to must undergo.”
In a small group, he stated, everybody will probably be very affected. “It’s going to be a part of the image within the lifetime of the group now for years and years to return.”
The method of grieving may be completely different for everyone, and it takes time, he added.
In his expertise, forgiveness was the start of not getting “caught in a spot of anger and bitterness.”
He drew power from his relationship with God, he stated.
“(It) is tough to clarify to folks, as a result of it was so painful and so tragic. And even within the midst of all our tears, we had been nonetheless in a position to start the method of therapeutic.”
He stated one of many issues that was helpful for him and his spouse was returning to the highschool the place Jason was shot to welcome children again into their lecture rooms.
The Taber capturing was the primary lethal highschool capturing in Canada in about 20 years. It got here eight days after a mass capturing at Columbine Excessive Faculty in Littleton, Colo., the place two college students killed 12 college students and one trainer earlier than taking their very own lives.
“It was a time when folks, and younger folks, wanted to really feel just like the world wasn’t falling aside on them,” Lang stated. He added that college students additionally wanted to know they had been cared for and will get by it.
“Through the years, we’ve had the children that had been within the college contact us or speak with us and tell us that it was a significant time for them in a troublesome state of affairs,” stated Lang.
Lang wrote a ebook in regards to the killing titled “Jason Has Been Shot!” alongside together with his son Mark.
Lang stated it’s one thing that wasn’t simple to place to paper, however he believes it was cathartic and introduced consolation and therapeutic to lots of people.
This report by The Canadian Press was first printed Feb. 12, 2026.
© 2026 The Canadian Press
