Thorsby, Alta. to honour gas station owner killed in gas-and-dash incident

Gas station ownerKi Yun Jo's death has left many in the small town of Thorsby, Alta. shaken.

The community of1,000 people, 70 kilometres southwest of Edmonton, only has two gas stations. The Fas Gas location on 52nd Streetwas popular with locals, according to deputy mayor Lloyd Jardine.

• Police identify victim ofThorsbygas and dash

According toRCMP,the driver of awhite commercial cube van spedaway from the Fas Gas stationwithout paying for fuelaround 3:45 p.m.Friday.As the vehicle was leaving, Jowas killed while trying to get the driver's attention, police said.

Stolen cube van

The van had beenstolen earlier Friday in Spruce Grove. It has not been found.Ithas MiddletonFlooring Ltd.written on its front and side.

"It's very tragic," said Jardine, adding that Jo ran the Fas Gas location for over 12 years.

"Everybody in Thorsby and the surrounding area knows Jo.We are going to have a prayer vigil for him tomorrow [Wednesday] night."

Theprayer service will start at 7 p.m.at the Thorsby community hall.RCMPwill be on site beginning at 10 a.m.to provide counselling to anyone who needs it.

Jo had a reputation for beinggenerous and outgoing, sometimes even helping people pay for their gasif they couldn't afford it, according to Jardine.

"The two ministers in town decided to get together with the councillors and they decided that we should have something for him,"saidJardine.

'My father was a very hard-working man'

On Facebook, Jo's family has reached out to the community, starting a crowd-fundingpage to collect money to convert the existing gas pumps at the station topre-paidpumps.

"My father was a very hard-working man who gave up his life to provide a living for his family," wrote Jo's son, Sung Hyun Jo.

The town council is now apparently pushing the province to implementgas-and-dash legislation.

"The mayor and myself and another councillor,Bill Adams, went and talked to our MLA on Saturday the day afterand we're going to take action to make the law about paying for you gas first," Jardine said.

"Hopefully, we can get something like that done like they have in B.C.," he said

In British Columbia, all motorists are required to prepay for fuel.

The lawiscommonly known as Grant's Law, named after a young gas station attendant killed in Maple Ridge in 2005 while trying to prevent a gas-and-dash robbery.

• B.C. to implement 'Grant's Law' to protect gas station workers

TheUnited Conservative Party released a statement Tuesday urging the NDP government to follow through on a 2015 commitment to introduce legislation targeting gas-and-dash crimes.

"Sadly, history has repeated itself, and another grieving family and community are dealing with the consequences of inaction," wrote interim leader Nathan Cooper

Alberta Labour Minister Christina Gray said Sunday the government is working on policies that should better protect workers in the future, with more information expected later in the fall.