'Horrifying and terrifying': Victims of knife attack at Halifax-area school deliver impact statements

Wayne Rodgers describes the morning of March, 20, 2023 as the most “horrifying and terrifying moment” of his life – a moment he thought would be his last.

Rodgers, the acting vice-principal at Charles P. Allen High School in Bedford, N.S., was attacked that morning and stabbed multiple times by a student who was called into his office for disciplinary reasons.

An educational assistant, Angela Light, was also attacked and stabbed in the back when she tried to intervene.

Both Rodgers and Light survived the knife attack and were in court Tuesday morning. They took the witness stand and delivered their emotional victim impact statements.

“I may never know why the offender caused me such grievous harm that morning,” said Rodgers, who retired from teaching in 2020 and moved to Nova Scotia with his family from Newfoundland.

Rodgers said he missed the school environment and working with young adults in the high school setting, so he took a temporary vice-principal job at Halifax West High School before settling in at Charles P. Allen High School.

Rodgers was one of seven people who delivered impact statements related to the stabbing incident.

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The accused is a 16-year-old Charles P. Allen student who was 15 at the time at the attack.

Halifax Regional Police arrested the teenager at the school after he had tried to harm himself with a knife.

He was initially charged with two counts of attempted murder, but has since pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated assault.

The teen sat in the courtroom between his two defence lawyers, his gaze fixed downward while the impact statements were read.

Rodgers said he sat down on numerous occasions to try and write his victim impact statement, but would only get a few sentences down before quitting.

He was hoping it would be therapeutic, but said it’s had the opposite effect.

“I tried,” said Rodgers. “It was too painful, too triggering, too frustrating, knowing I was limited in what I could say.”

TEEN'S IDENTITY PROTECTED

The identity of the youth charged in the stabbing incident is protected under the Youth Criminal Justice Act. Any additional testimony heard from medical professionals and psychologists that deal with the teen’s medical history is also protected under the publication ban imposed by Judge Elizabeth Buckle.

Buckle says the additional publication ban is to ensure that highly personal information doesn’t get out and possibly interfere with the rehabilitation process of the youth.

Rodgers was frustrated at having to hold back in his victim statement in order to satisfy the terms of the publication ban. Some of Rodgers’ victim statement was redacted.

“I am frustrated and angry that I cannot share with you Your Honour what I know about this individual, what led up to the events, and why I have so much difficulty sleeping at night,” said Rodgers.

Earlier witness accounts, which were confirmed in the agreed statements of facts, revealed that the student had been called into the vice-principal’s office for disciplinary action related to hand-drawn posters the teen had hung around the school.

A knife was found on the student in the office, and he was carrying other knives as well, when the attack ensued and the vice-principal was stabbed several times in his office.

'AM I GOING TO SEE MY WIFE AGAIN?'

Rodgers described the attack and how the student had stabbed him multiple times, including a deep wound to his side that punctured his diaphragm, and another that nicked an artery, all while trying to fight off the attacker and screaming for help.

“Am I going to see my wife again, my children, my family?” Rodgers told the court.

All these questions and thoughts swirled through his mind while lying on his back and kicking up at the attacker.

Rodgers still suffers from nightmares and cannot get the attacker’s facial expressions out of his mind, particularly, “How much he (his attacker) seemed to be enjoying this moment,” said Rodgers.

A school administrator who was nearby and heard the attack was also stabbed in the back as the teen ran from the office.

Angela Light said she was the victim of what she believed was a heinous attack that has changed her both physically and mentally.

Light had recently started working at Charles P. Allen as an educational assistant and said it marked a new career path and a place of financial stability for the 48-year-old.

“My life had finally and literally just gotten really good,” Light told the court.

But now, after the stabbing, she’s been unable to work and has completely lost her sense of safety.

“I haven’t returned to any of my jobs due to the physical and mental injuries from this incident,” said Light.

Both Light and Rodgers say they have been diagnosed with complex post-traumatic stress disorder and require long-term health supports in dealing with their traumatic injuries.

Youth Crown Attorney Terry Nickerson is seeking an 18-month sentence in a youth correctional facility, followed by six months of probation with a list of restrictions.

For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page.