six people had already been killed at the school<\/a>: a 39-year-old teacher, three 12-year-old girls and two boys aged 12 and 13. One victim lay in a stairwell; the rest were in a classroom.<\/p>\nMore than two dozen people were injured.<\/p>\n
The suspected shooter, Jesse Van Rootselaar, 18, was also found dead. Her mother, 39, and an 11 -year old sibling believed to be a step-brother were later found dead at a nearby home.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday morning, both schools in the mountain village of Tumbler Ridge were closed and police tape blocked roads. Dozens of officers, flown in from other parts of the province, continued what will be a harrowing and emotionally turbulent investigation.<\/p>\n
As accounts of one of Canada\u2019s deadliest mass shootings trickle out, stories of heroism and tragedy have laid bare the scope of devastation that has left the small town and nation in shock and grief.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are no words in the English language that capture the horror of what happened,\u201d said provincial lawmaker Larry Neufeld.<\/p>\n
The remote coalmining community of just 2,700 people is encircled by thick forest and is prized for its proximity to nature. But daily routine was shattered on Tuesday when an emergency alert blared from phones, warning residents of an active shooter.<\/p>\n
Parents were notified the two schools had been placed on lockdown, but given little information. Hours later, images circulating on social media showed frightened students exiting the school, their hands in the air.<\/p>\n
Tumbler Ridge\u2019s mayor, Darryl Krakowka, said that when he first heard the death toll, he \u201cbroke down\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have lived here for 18 years,\u201d he said of the community that he described as a \u201cbig family\u201d. \u201cI probably know every one of the victims.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Rev George Rowe of the Tumbler Ridge Fellowship Baptist church went to the recreation centre where victims\u2019 families were awaiting more information. \u201cIt was not a pretty sight. Families are still waiting to hear if it\u2019s their child that\u2019s deceased and because of protocol and procedure, the investigating team is very careful in releasing names,\u201d Rowe said on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Rowe once taught at the high school, and his three children graduated from there. \u201cTo walk through the corridors of that school will never be the same again,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Chris Norbury, a town councillor whose wife is a teacher at the school, said his \u201cheart and soul are heavy\u201d as residents struggled to make sense of the tragedy.<\/p>\n
\u201cI cannot stop thinking about the children, the teachers, and the first responders who had to live through such a terrifying experience,\u201d he said in a social media post. \u201cLike many in our community, I felt the fear, the kind that sits in your heart and soul that doesn\u2019t let go. The fear that I lost a loved one. It is something none of us should ever have to experience.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rhen-Rhen Reyes Ceredon said her son was one of the students who endured the hours-long lockdown.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just so traumatic for him what he witnessed in their school. My fellow parents, I know this situation is very terrifying and shocking. We need to talk our children for their mental health, what they feel, and what\u2019s going on to their lives,\u201d she posted on social media. \u201cComfort them and let them feel that you are always there for them. This tragedy will always be in their mind. We need to help them overcome this trauma.\u201d<\/p>\n
The BC Assembly of First Nations sent out a message expressing its \u201cprofound sorrow\u201d over the \u201ctragic loss of life\u201d in Tumbler Ridge. \u201cThe senseless violence that has taken away precious lives, including that of the suspect, and injured many more, will leave a deep and lasting wound not only in this community but in all of us living in BC and across Canada,\u201d it read.<\/p>\n
The shooting \u2013 Canada\u2019s deadliest mass killing since 2020, when a gunman in Nova Scotia killed 13 people and set fires that left another nine dead \u2013 has left the country grief-stricken and in shock. Political leaders were openly emotional in their responses.<\/p>\n
Mark Carney, who spent his early years in a small west Canadian town, said Tumbler Ridge was bracing for a \u201cvery difficult\u201d day.<\/p>\n
\u201cParents, grandparents, sisters, brothers in Tumbler Ridge will wake up without someone they love. The nation mourns with you; Canada stands by you.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said flags at government buildings would be lowered to half mast. He also cancelled a trip to Germany.<\/p>\n
Pierre Poilievre, the Conservative leader of the opposition, said: \u201cAs a father, I can\u2019t even imagine the phone calls that parents might have received. I can\u2019t imagine the heartache and hell that they\u2019re living through at this moment.\u201d<\/p>\n
Both schools in Tumbler Ridge will remain closed for the rest of the week. \u201cThere is no timeline for how each of us will process this grief and immense loss, both individually and as a community,\u201d the school district said in a statement. \u201cWhile words often feel inadequate in the face of such loss, coming together can help reduce isolation and remind us that we are not alone.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trent Ernst, publisher of the local Tumbler RidgeLines newspaper, said he had been so overwhelmed by media requests that he hadn\u2019t yet written a story on the shooting.<\/p>\n
Reflecting the nature of many small towns in the region, where people juggle different jobs, Ernst previously had worked as a substitute teacher in the school.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs somebody who has worked there, who knows the people there, and who knows a lot of the kids, this is really hitting me hard. This is hitting the community hard,\u201d he said. \u201cStay safe, be warm, love your neighbours, love your family, and just know that my heart is there with you.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Within moments of receiving reports that there was a shooter nearby, Stacie Gruntman, the principal of Tumbler Ridge…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":474137,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":["post-474136","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/474136","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=474136"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/474136\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/474137"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=474136"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=474136"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=474136"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}