Krista Dryden of Stettler sustained a gunshot wound early in the morning last May 28 while walking alongside Highway 12 on the outskirts of town.
Dryden was taken to hospital in Stettler and later Calgary, but she didn’t suffer life-threatening injuries, police reported.
“It was a random incident,” said RCMP media-relations officer Doris Stapleton.
RCMP said the gunman later killed himself after an eight-hour standoff with police just east of Castor.
The gunman was identified as Red Deer funeral director Dustin Goddu, a father of two children. Police found his body in a wooded area near Fleet.
“Every effort was made by police to end this (incident) in a different way,” Stapleton said.
Schools in the region were locked down for parts of the day. Town of Stettler Mayor Dick Richards said the shooting in town was “shocking,” but that he believes Stettler remains a safe community.
“(But) you can never be prepared for a random act of violence,” Richards said.
William E. Hay Composite High School in Stettler celebrated the graduation of 131 Grade 12 students. It was a doubly special ceremony for longtime William E. Hay principal Norbert Baharally, whose daughter Alicia was among the graduates.
Stettler product Barb Clark Parolin was among nine Albertans, and the lone female, inducted into the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame in the 2012 ceremony at Red Deer.
Clark Parolin, 53, said her passion for swimming began during her childhood years in Stettler.
She went on to win a bronze medal in the 1976 Olympics in Montreal in the 4x100-metre freestyle relay.
“Stettler is home in my heart,” said Clark Parolin, who has been a teacher in Leduc for the past 32 years.
Her father, Earl Clark, was the Stettler high school principal for eight and a half years, before the family left the community in 1978.
Ethel Williams received her 70-year pin as a longtime member of Victoria Chapter 14 Order of Eastern Star, which celebrated its 99th year.
Wildrose Leader Danielle Smith appointed newly-elected Drumheller-Stettler MLA Rick Strankman as critic for tourism, parks and recreation. Strankman announced that he plans to open the downtown Stettler office that was formerly occupied by his predecessor, Jack Hayden.
During an open house in Stettler, Crowfoot MP Kevin Sorenson expressed his opposition to planned cuts that would reduce Service Canada hours to one day in Stettler.
In his 25th year with the Town of Stettler, chief administrative officer Rob Stoutenberg received a provincial award of excellence from the Society of Local Government Managers. Stoutenberg began his administrative career with the Stettler municipality in May 1987.
Central Alberta Catholic Schools superintendent Stephen MacKenzie died May 8. He was 55.
An overflowing crowd attend MacKenzie’s funeral at Vermilion Regional Centre.
“There was not an empty seat in that large facility, which showed the high esteem held for Stephen,” said Sheldon Gallagher, principal of Stettler’s Christ-King Catholic School.
“The hockey team that he coached entered as a group, wearing their hockey jerseys. It was touching.”
Seniors trying to find a new home for the Stettler seniors’ drop-in centre determined that the Stettler Recreation Centre conference room is “the best site.” It was the conclusion of a fact-finding project that involved the Town of Stettler, County of Stettler and seniors’ groups.