“I was scared out of my mind,” Krueger, now a senior at Weston High School, said of the incident in a school hallway on Sept. 29, 2006, that ended with popular principal John Klang, 49, being shot three times by freshman Eric Hainstock. Klang died later that day.
But as the school district — still synonymous with student shootings in many circles — finalizes plans to acknowledge the 10th anniversary of the shooting Thursday, students there have put the incident behind them, Krueger said.
“It comes up around now and it’s like, ‘Oh, yeah, that’s when the shooting was,’” said Krueger. “We used to talk about it, but not anymore as much. … What I remember is that (Klang) was my favorite principal.”
As it turns out, Thursday’s activities are centered on honoring Klang, a lifelong resident of the Cazenovia area — about 70 miles from Madison — who gave up dairy farming so he could devote his time to creating a quality education experience for all of the district’s students and teachers.
“We feel it’s important that we recognize John, not the tragedy,” said Emily Miller, the district’s superintendent and principal.
Two years after the shooting, Klang was awarded a Carnegie Medal, given for an extraordinarily heroic act, after court testimony showed he tackled Hainstock and was mortally wounded as he kept Hainstock from advancing toward students and teachers with a loaded shotgun and .22 caliber handgun and dozens of extra rounds of ammunition. After a janitor wrestled away the shotgun from Hainstock, Klang tackled Hainstock and was shot in the head, abdomen and leg before knocking the handgun away, authorities said.
Ten years later, Klang is remembered for much more.
Klang was always helping teachers in classrooms and was quick to say hello to students as they walked by him in the hallways, Krueger said.
Klang’s vision to get the community more involved with the school resonates with Kay Amborn, who has taught in the Weston district for 39 years and led the group that was in charge of designing the memorial honoring Klang that is near the entrance to the elementary school.
Amborn makes regular visits to the memorial, which consists of five smaller pillars that lead up to one large one. “I like to reflect on all the positive things John did for us,” Amborn said, “and think about what it would be like today if he was still here.”
Klang was about to add the title of superintendent to his duties, and the district couldn’t have found a more qualified candidate for both jobs, according to Terry Milfred, Weston’s interim superintendent at the time of the shooting.
“John was unique in that he was from the area and his experience allowed him to see the potential in all the kids, to relate well to the parents who also were his neighbors and to provide leadership that’s hard to duplicate because of that unique relationship he had with everyone there,” said Milfred.
Since the shooting, Weston has gone through several superintendents and principals as the district serves as a stepping stone to bigger jobs. “I could tell that he was a 50-year-old principal who intended to stay there at least until he was 65,” Milfred said. “He would have lent continuity for at least 15 years.”
Miller, in her second year at Weston, said the district is in a “rebuilding year” and is focusing efforts on curriculum building and creating leadership teams for a school housing students in pre-kindergarten through high school.
“I have an impeccable staff that takes each student to heart and that makes a difference,” Miller said. “It’s a great environment to work in and learn in.”
Ceremonies will begin Thursday morning prior to the start of classes with high school seniors walking to the memorial and placing a carnation in a vase there, according to Sue Louis, the district’s family community coordinator who planned the event. In five-minute increments, they will be followed by junior, sophomore and freshman classes. Students will then honor Klang with a moment of silence before returning to classes.
Elementary school students will go to the memorial at their teachers’ discretion, Louis added.
At 4 p.m., there will be a short memorial service at the school that is open to the entire district community. Afterward, Klang’s family, which includes his wife, Sue, who still lives in Cazenovia, will release 10 balloons. “The family wanted something to commemorate the 10 years, but they didn’t want a big event,” Louis said.
Meanwhile, Hainstock, 25, who was given a sentence of life imprisonment but is eligible for parole in 21 years, regrets shooting and killing Klang, according to his father, Shawn Hainstock. “There isn’t a day that goes by where he wouldn’t take that day back if he could,” the elder Hainstock said. “He feels bad about what happened. He tells me he has nightmares about it and he feels bad for the Klang family.”
Hainstock was initially sent to a state prison near Green Bay before he was moved to Portage about a year ago.
He was moved to a state prison in Boscobel a few months ago when a resident from the Weston School District was hired at the Portage prison and requested that Hainstock be moved, Hainstock’s father said.
“John was unique in that he was from the area and his experience allowed him to ... provide leadership that’s hard to duplicate because of that unique relationship he had with everyone there.” Terry Milfred, former interim superintendent, Weston School District
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©2016 The Wisconsin State Journal (Madison, Wis.)
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