By CHAT News Today

La Loche school principal says community has been abandoned

Jan 10, 2017 | 9:43 AM

LA LOCHE, SASK. — The principal in a remote northern Saskatchewan school where there was a deadly shooting almost a year ago says staff and students in La Loche feel like they’ve been abandoned.
 

Greg Hatch says there was some help for about a month after a gunman opened fire on Jan. 22, killing a teacher, a teacher’s aide and wounding seven others. The shooter also killed two teen brothers at a nearby home before he went to the school.

But Hatch says the school has been left alone after the initial response and many students are still struggling.

The building’s main doors had been blasted with bullets and were still boarded up when students started school in September. A partition around the office was up until December, he noted.

“Things were the same when as we left in June, so that was frustration, anger, (for) students (and) staff. For the most part, we feel that we’ve been left alone and we’ve been abandoned,” Hatch said Monday as community leaders talked about the recovery effort.

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“It’s not a statement of disrespect. It’s just an honest answer (to) where are we at. We were traumatized. We still haven’t dealt with the trauma.”

Hatch said students are struggling in school and staff are struggling with their work.

“Each and every day that a student gets out of bed and comes to school and walks through those doors … it’s a good day for them,” said Hatch, who was in the building when the shooting occurred.

“We’re just trying to make it through each and every day.”

La Loche Mayor Robert St. Pierre said there’s a long recovery road ahead for the entire community, despite some help for housing and other initiatives.

A private day of observance is planned on the anniversary date, he said.

The 17 year old gunman, who recently turned 18, pleaded guilty in October to two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of second-degree murder and seven counts of attempted murder.

No agreed facts about what happened or why were submitted to the court.

A sentencing hearing for the teen is set for May in La Loche. The Crown has said it will argue to have him sentenced as an adult.