JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Sunday marks the ten-year anniversary of a crime that shocked the Jacksonville community.
Dale Regan was a beloved figure at the Episcopal School of Jacksonville. She began teaching English at the school in 1978. She soon rose to be an administrator, and in 2006, she was selected to be the Head of School.
On the website, she had the following message to students and parents:
"Some say a picture is worth a thousand words-but as you look at our campus through pictures, it is important for me to add some personal words. Like pieces of a puzzle, the fundamental goals of Episcopal fit together and create an outstanding educational community."
On March 6, 2012, she was gunned down in a tragic-murder suicide.
Her murderer was Shane Schumerth, a Spanish teacher who was fired earlier that day. He returned to the campus with a rifle and shot Regan before turning the gun on himself.
"There was absolutely nothing that any of us ever saw that would indicate he was either capable, even capable of contemplating the kind of action he took today," John Winkler, the then-president of the Concerned Taxpayers of Duval County, said in 2012. "One insane extreme act at the end of an all too short life."
Schumerth was a former teacher at Duval County Public Schools but resigned in June 2010, citing personal reasons. He began teaching at Episcopal in August of that year.
The story made national headlines with the New York Times, CNN and other major news outlets all running stories about the murder-suicide.
The Episcopal School of Jacksonville posted a tribute on social media saying:
"In memory of Dale Regan, always in our thoughts and prayers. Your grace and love shine on ten years later."