Father of 1999 Alberta school shooting victim talks grieving and forgiveness

The father of a student killed in a school shooting in southern Alberta almost 27 years ago says forgiveness was at the heart of how he tackled the tragedy. 


The father of a student killed in a school shooting in southern Alberta almost 27 years ago says forgiveness was at the heart of how he tackled the tragedy.

Retired reverend Dale Lang lost his 17-year-old son, Jason, after the teen was shot by a fellow student in a hallway at W.R. Myers High School in Taber, Alta., about 300 kilometres southeast of Calgary, in 1999.

The 14-year-old shooter, who also wounded another student, was convicted of first-degree murder and attempted murder and sentenced as a youth to three years in jail and seven years of probation.

“In our case, God granted us the grace to be able to forgive the boy who killed our son, and that was hugely important for us,” he said in an interview Wednesday.

He shared his story again after a mass shooting Tuesday in Tumbler Ridge, B.C., left nine people dead, including the 18-year-old shooter.

Police said the shooter killed her mother and 11-year-old stepbrother at a home in the town before gunning down a teacher and five students at the high school and taking her own life.

Lang said he doesn’t know enough of the details about what happened in B.C. to speak directly about it, other than to say it’s a tragedy.

“I’m very sad to know that Tumbler Ridge will be going through some difficult days ahead, to say the least, and particularly the families that have lost people,” said Lang.