Salvation Army leader reflects 28 years after father died in Australia mass shooting
DENVER (KDVR) — A weekend attack in Australia that left six people dead hit close to home for a Denver man. His father was killed 28 years ago in that country’s most notorious mass shooting in history.
“It devastated me. My father was my hero,” said Major Nesan Kistan, divisional commander of The Salvation Army in Denver.
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His father, Tony Kistan, was one of 35 people killed in April 1996 when a gunman walked into a tourist town café in Tasmania and opened fire with a semi-automatic rifle.
“Someone was shooting people, and so (my father) grabbed my mother out of the cafe, threw her outside, and then re-entered the cafe. And as he re-entered the cafe he made a beeline for (gunman) Martin Bryant, and in his attempt to disarm him, lost his own life,” Kistan said.
It was Australia’s largest massacre carried out by a single person. And it led to near-immediate changes in gun laws and gun buyback programs that took 650,000 firearms off the streets. Murder and suicide rates plummeted.
“I don’t believe there’s any significant mass shootings after that,” Kistan said.
It also led to forgiveness on Kistan’s part, something he tries to practice daily — even toward the man who killed his father.
“We actually made attempts to meet with Martin Bryant. In fact, we gave (him) a Bible. We were unable to visit him because he was in maximum security,” Kistan said.
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As Colorado marks 25 years this week since the Columbine High School massacre was carried out in Littleton, Kistan hopes what he learned all those years ago can give comfort to grieving families here at home.
“Do not let bitterness consume your soul or heart or spirit. Find that space. Ask God to help you to come to that place where he can bring a holistic healing that helps you to forgive and make your way back in life,” Kistan said.
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