How students in La Loche returned after mass shooting

A northern Saskatchewan high school that was the site of a deadly shooting a decade ago closed for weeks before students returned to class.

Jason Young with the Northern Lights School Division says time was needed after the tragedy at Dene High School in La Loche to ensure supports and security were in place. Two died and several were injured.

Read more:

• ‘We’ve got to believe in each other’: Sask. community sends message of hope after Tumbler Ridge tragedy
• Reporter says it’s hard to describe ‘the magnitude of grief’ in Tumbler Ridge after shooting
• Mass killer was ‘hunting’ in Tumbler Ridge school, RCMP says

“We were just in a difficult position to be able to start school again,” Young said in an interview.

“We didn’t have the resources to do that. We just needed to meet with people where they were at and slowly work together to try and start school up again.”

On Tuesday, a mass shooting at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School and at a home in the town in northeastern B.C. left nine children and adults dead, including the shooter.

RCMP Deputy Commissioner Dwayne McDonald told a news conference Friday that children need to return to school at an appropriate time.

He said he’s hopeful investigators will be out of the school as soon as possible so the town can begin to heal.

The Grade 7-12 school has roughly 160 students.

B.C. Premier David Eby told a vigil in Tumbler Ridge on Friday night that students won’t have to go back if they don’t want to.

“I will promise you that not one of you will ever be forced to go back to that school. We will provide a safe place for you to go to school.”

Christy Fennell, superintendent of the Peace River South School District, said in a statement posted on the school’s website that it would share back-to-school plans over the next week.

“We know some families will want the stability of school routines, while others may not feel ready,” she said.

“The expectation is that we will not be returning to the current high school site.”

RCMP said 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar first killed her mother, 39-year-old Jennifer Jacobs, and 11-year-old brother, Emmett Jacobs, at the family’s home in Tumbler Ridge.

She then headed to the high school with two guns, killing five students — Kylie Smith, Zoey Benoit, Ticaria Lampert and Abel Mwansa Jr., all 12, and Ezekiel Schofield, 13. Shannda Aviugana-Durand, 39, an education assistant at the school, was also killed.

When police arrived, Van Rootselaar shot herself.

Young said there were similarities in La Loche.

On Jan. 22, 2016, a 17-year-old student killed two of his cousins at a home in the remote Dene community — Dayne Fontaine, 17, and Drayden Fontaine, 13. He then went to the school and gunned down teacher Adam Wood and a teacher’s aide, Marie Janvier, and wounded seven others.

In both cases, frightened students huddled in classrooms, consoled each other and waited.

In La Loche, Mounties announced over the school’s intercom that they had arrested the shooter.

Randan Fontaine later pleaded guilty to various counts of first-degree murder, second-degree murder and attempted murder. He was sentenced as an adult to life in prison with no chance of parole for 10 years.

In the weeks that followed the shooting, the La Loche school hired security guards to ease fears over safety, Young said. RCMP also provided a resource officer to work in the building.

“We knew that one of the steps we needed to take was how do we reduce anxiety,” he said. “When you’re able to offer that type of support, staff and students can focus on what they need to do.”

The school also worked with the provincial and federal governments to provide additional mental health supports, including more counsellors.

Young said staff heard from students that they wanted to return.

“You get back to as normal education as you possibly can,” he said.

“(Teachers were) just doing the best they can, given the situation we were all dealing with.”

Security guards still remain in place at the school, he said, though the RCMP resource officer isn’t working out of the school as much.

“Part of the challenge with that is recruitment challenges,” Young said. “We’re doing the best we can with what we’ve got.”

Each year on the anniversary of the shooting, the school has closed — except this year. A ceremony was held at the school to mark the 10th anniversary.

Young said students and staff will never forget what happened.

“(The anniversary) will just be a day where they can actually focus on service to others. That’s going to be the theme going forward,” he said.

“Obviously, it’s not something you can ever forget.”

Young said his school division has reached out to the Peace River South School District.

“All I can do is just continue to pray and think about those that are affected in that community,” he said.

“I know that they too will be resilient through this, as difficult as it is right now.”

Read more:

• ‘We’ve got to believe in each other’: Sask. community sends message of hope after Tumbler Ridge tragedy
• Reporter says it’s hard to describe ‘the magnitude of grief’ in Tumbler Ridge after shooting
• Mass killer was ‘hunting’ in Tumbler Ridge school, RCMP says