Pam Hand is relieved there's finally a spot outside her former Brampton high school to mark a school shooting she witnessed there 42 years ago, one of the first of such tragedies in North America.

A young man is carried on a stretcher following a school shooting at Brampton Centennial on May 28, 1975 (CBC archives)

The retired Peel Regional Police officer worked closely with a committee of volunteers to commission the sculpture, called A Healing Place, in the hope that it will become just that.

"Some people say, 'Why do you need it 42 years later?'" Hand says. "If you haven't walked in our shoes, you can't understand. It is like a wound that hasn't closed, it's like I've never been able to pay my respects."

'Didn't believe it to be real'

It was on May 28, 1975, that Michael Slobodian entered Brampton Centennial Secondary School carrying two rifles. The 16-year-old shot and killed teacher Margaret Wright and student John Slinger.

He injured another 13 people before taking his own life.

When Hand heard the shots that day, she thought someone was setting off firecrackers.

​"I can still close my eyes and see it vividly," she says. "I witnessed it through a doorway and didn't believe it to be real."

It wasn't until the then-Grade 9 student saw an injured pupil run by, and then the gunman's suicide, that the magnitude of what was happening registered.

'Unhealed wounds'

Hand said she realizes that in 1975 schools did little to help students deal with traumatic events.

She admits she never really talked about her memories of that day until a few years ago, when she came across a Facebook discussion group where former students started sharing their feelings. It sparked an outpouring of emotion.

Pam Hand is one of the volunteers who helped raise funds for the memorial. (Pam Hand)

"We all just realized we had some huge, unhealed wounds that needed healing."

Those discussions led to a memorial service, held two years ago to mark the shooting's 40th anniversary.

Former staff and students met with family members of the victims and the shooter to officially mourn their deaths.

"The outpouring of grief that night made us realize we needed a permanent memorial," Hand says.

​Volunteers raised $40,000 and commissioned the sculpture, created by Mary Ellen Farrow.

It consists of three benches arranged in a triangle in front of the McMurchy Avenue school.

The first bench has a sculpture of one person consoling another. The second contains the name of the piece, while the third holds this message: "On Wednesday May 28, 1975 all of us learned to love each other just a little bit more."

I don't think it has defined the school, but it has been connected with the school's past. - Mike Bowman, Brampton Centennial vice-principal

"We were very careful that the sculpture doesn't say anything about a shooting or killing. Anyone who needs to know what that means knows."

The memorial is being unveiled as part of a reunion weekend with ceremonies to mark the Brampton Centennial 50th anniversary.

A gathering space for new students

"It has always been a bit of the cloud for the school," says Mike Bowman, the current vice-principal there. "I don't think it has defined the school, but it has been connected with the school's past."

Artist Mary Ellen Farrow poses beside her stone sculpture. (Mike Bowman)

He says that since the memorial's installation, he's noticed current students taking an interest.

"They ask a lot of staff about it. They know it is an important and sacred piece of the school's history."

Hand says she's happy the sculpture has sparked conversation.

"You'd hear other people say [the shooting] never happened, that it's an old wives tale," she says. "You'd think to yourself, 'No, it really did. And it really did affect a lot of people.'"