Greater love

Greater love hath no man, than he lay down his life for his friends. Those who make the ultimate sacrifice—giving their own lives so that others might live—truly display the highest quality of love. Obviously, Jesus himself made that ultimate sacrifice, and now we live—and will live with him forever—because of it.

This past Friday, students at Weston High School (WI) arrived to a bloody scene. Their popular and friendly principal, John Klang, had been shot fatally by a 15-year-old student Eric Hainstock. According to this account from the AP wire, the murderer was armed with a shotgun and a handgun, which he had stolen out of a cabinet at home. Although a maintenance man was able to wrestle the shotgun away, Klang was shot three times as he attempted to pry the handgun loose. Before losing consciousness, the principal managed to sweep the weapon away, and the assailant was taken into custody where he was charged as an adult.

Why did he do it? Accounts vary, although it seems that the student was upset that he was going to receive an in-school suspension for bringing tobacco to campus. Apparently he was picked on and students “rubbed against him.” Another account said that he just “wanted to be heard.” And now three children are fatherless, and a school community is mourning the loss of a friend.

There will be many attempts to fix blame for this shooting. Some will point out that a friend heard Hainstock talking and making threats, but neglected to report it to the authorities. Others will point to the dastardly evil of handguns and fix blame on the parents for having such firearms in the house. Others will alert us to the killer’s perception that he felt unheard and picked on, and did not believe that the teachers cared enough to step in and defend him. And still others will correctly observe that many students feel isolated, picked on, and receive discipline from school authorities yet don’t commit murder—the responsibility lies totally with Mr. Eric Hainstock, and he should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

The principal ought to be remembered as someone who loved his students, and demonstrated that love by making the ultimate, Christ-like sacrifice. And we ought all remember that our school administrators and authorities have our own safety at heart when rehearsing lock-downs and other emergency procedures, and we ought to cooperate rather than question their necessity. God forbid that such a tragedy should ever occur in our neck of the woods, so let us continue to watch out for each other and be alert to warning signs that someone may be ready to hurt himself and/or others.