By AFP
February 13, 2026
A memorial for the victims the mass shooting in Tumbler Ridge, Canada - Copyright AFP Paige Taylor White
Ben Simon
A grief-stricken community in northern Canada will mourn with Prime Minister Mark Carney on Friday, who is headed to the remote town of Tumbler Ridge to honor victims of a mass shooting.
Carney is travelling to the Rocky Mountain mining town with the heads of all opposition parties, a show of national solidarity after one of the deadliest outbursts of violence in Canadian history.
In the days since Tuesday’s killings at the Tumbler Ridge Secondary School, more information has emerged about both the victims and the shooter, an 18-year-old transgender woman named Jesse Van Rootselaar.
A Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer remained stationed outside Van Rootselaar’s home on Friday.
The modest brown house on a quiet, unassuming street was cordoned-off with police tape. Two overturned bicycles rested against the snow in the front yard.
Van Rootselaar killed her 39-year-old mother and 11-year-old stepbrother in the house before heading to the school, where she shot dead six more people — five students and a teacher — then killed herself.
The shooter’s estranged father, Justin Van Rootselaar, has sent a statement to the public broadcaster CBC, offering condolences for a “senseless and unforgivable act of violence.”
“As the biological father of the individual responsible, I carry a sorrow that is difficult to put into words,” the statement said, according to the CBC.
The RCMP on Friday released a photo of the shooter — who was known to have mental health issues. She is shown wearing a hoodie with an expressionless face.
– Vigil at town hall –
Carney is expected to lead a vigil for the victims outside the town hall in Tumbler Ridge, which was built 45 years ago, 1,180 kilometers (733 miles) north of Vancouver.
The town was quiet early Friday and residents have voiced weariness over the influx of media attention following the tragedy.
A sign ordering media to stay out was taped at the entrance of the community center on Friday.
But inside the center on Thursday, there were hints of life inching back towards normal, including an ice rink packed with children playing hockey or working on their skating.
In the evening, the mother of a victim, Sarah Lampert, addressed the media at the center, saying she wanted to speak for 12-year-old daughter Tacaria who had “a beautiful, strong voice that was silenced.”
“She is forever my baby, because that’s what she was. She was a baby,” Lampert said, fighting to contain her tears as she addressed a room full of cameras.
Also killed at school was 12-year-old Zoey Benoit.
“She was so resilient, vibrant, smart, caring and the strongest little girl you could meet,” a statement from her family said.
Peter Schofield’s 13-year-old grandson Ezekial was one of the six murdered students.
“Everything feels so surreal. The tears just keep flowing,” he posted on Facebook.
Carney made an emotional address to parliament after the shootings, saying “these children and their teachers bore witness to unheard-of cruelty.”
He described Tumbler Ridge as a town of miners, teachers and construction workers who represent “the very best of Canada: resilient, compassionate and strong.”
The prime minister had been scheduled to attend the Munich Security Conference to discuss transatlantic defense with allies, but cancelled his plans following the shooting.
Canada stunned by deadliest school shooting in decades
By AFP
February 11, 2026
Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney spoke to media in the aftermath of a rare mass shooting - Copyright AFP Dave Chan
Ben Simon
Canada was in mourning Wednesday, Prime Minister Mark Carney said, after a lone shooter killed at least nine people, including seven at a school, and injured dozens more in a remote western town.
An emotional Carney said in brief remarks to reporters that “the nation mourns” with British Columbia’s Tumbler Ridge after Tuesday’s shooting. “Canada stands by you.”
He said he had requested flags to be lowered to half-mast for seven days over the tragedy, among the deadliest shootings in Canada’s history, and that numerous world leaders had reached out to offer their condolences.
Tumbler Ridge, a small town of about 2,400 residents, lies in the foothills of the Canadian Rockies near the provincial border with Alberta, hundreds of kilometers from any major city.
Emergency responders found six people shot dead at the town’s secondary school on Tuesday, while a seventh person died in transit to hospital, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said in a statement.
Two others were killed at a nearby residence, while at least 25 people sustained injuries in the attack.
The suspect, described by police in an initial emergency alert as a “female in a dress with brown hair,” was found dead with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound at the school.
Police have not yet released any identifying information about the shooter or the victims.
“We will get through this. We will learn from this. But right now, it’s a time to come together, as Canadians always do in these situations, these terrible situations, to support each other, to mourn together and to grow together,” Carney said.
King Charles, the monarch of Canada, said in a statement that he and Queen Camilla were “profoundly shocked and saddened” to learn of the attack.
“In a such a closely connected town, every child’s name will be known and every family will be a neighbour,” he said.
While several mass killings have occurred in recent years in Canada, deadly attacks on schools are very rare, especially compared to the neighboring United States.
In 1989, a self-described anti-feminist man killed 13 female students and a secretary at Montreal’s Ecole Polytechnique.
After the country’s deadliest shooting attack, which left 22 people dead in Nova Scotia in 2020, Canada banned some 1,500 models of assault weapons.
– ‘Off the rails’ –
Tumbler Ridge student Darian Quist told public broadcaster CBC that he was in his mechanics class when there was an announcement that the school was in lockdown.
He said that initially he “didn’t think anything was going on,” but started receiving “disturbing” photos about the carnage.
“It set in what was happening,” Quist said.
He said he stayed in lockdown for more than two hours until police stormed in, ordering everyone to put their hands up before escorting them out of the school.
Trent Ernst, a local journalist and a former substitute teacher at Tumbler Ridge, expressed shock over the shooting at the school, where one of his children has just graduated.
He noted that school shootings have been a rarity occurring every few years in Canada compared with the United States, where they are far more frequent.
“I used to kind of go: ‘Look at Canada, look at who we are.’ But then that one school shooting every 2.5 years happens in your town and things… just go off the rails,” he told AFP.
Ken Floyd, commander of the police’s northern district, said Tuesday: “This has been an incredibly difficult and emotional day for our community, and we are grateful for the cooperation shown as officers continue their work to advance the investigation.”
Floyd told reporters the shooter was the same suspect police described as “female” in a prior emergency alert to community members, but declined to provide any details on the suspect’s identity.
The police said officers were searching other homes and properties in the community to see if there were additional sites connected to the incident.
By AFP
February 11, 2026
Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney spoke to media in the aftermath of a rare mass shooting - Copyright AFP Dave Chan
Ben Simon
Canada was in mourning Wednesday, Prime Minister Mark Carney said, after a lone shooter killed at least nine people, including seven at a school, and injured dozens more in a remote western town.
An emotional Carney said in brief remarks to reporters that “the nation mourns” with British Columbia’s Tumbler Ridge after Tuesday’s shooting. “Canada stands by you.”
He said he had requested flags to be lowered to half-mast for seven days over the tragedy, among the deadliest shootings in Canada’s history, and that numerous world leaders had reached out to offer their condolences.
Tumbler Ridge, a small town of about 2,400 residents, lies in the foothills of the Canadian Rockies near the provincial border with Alberta, hundreds of kilometers from any major city.
Emergency responders found six people shot dead at the town’s secondary school on Tuesday, while a seventh person died in transit to hospital, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said in a statement.
Two others were killed at a nearby residence, while at least 25 people sustained injuries in the attack.
The suspect, described by police in an initial emergency alert as a “female in a dress with brown hair,” was found dead with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound at the school.
Police have not yet released any identifying information about the shooter or the victims.
“We will get through this. We will learn from this. But right now, it’s a time to come together, as Canadians always do in these situations, these terrible situations, to support each other, to mourn together and to grow together,” Carney said.
King Charles, the monarch of Canada, said in a statement that he and Queen Camilla were “profoundly shocked and saddened” to learn of the attack.
“In a such a closely connected town, every child’s name will be known and every family will be a neighbour,” he said.
While several mass killings have occurred in recent years in Canada, deadly attacks on schools are very rare, especially compared to the neighboring United States.
In 1989, a self-described anti-feminist man killed 13 female students and a secretary at Montreal’s Ecole Polytechnique.
After the country’s deadliest shooting attack, which left 22 people dead in Nova Scotia in 2020, Canada banned some 1,500 models of assault weapons.
– ‘Off the rails’ –
Tumbler Ridge student Darian Quist told public broadcaster CBC that he was in his mechanics class when there was an announcement that the school was in lockdown.
He said that initially he “didn’t think anything was going on,” but started receiving “disturbing” photos about the carnage.
“It set in what was happening,” Quist said.
He said he stayed in lockdown for more than two hours until police stormed in, ordering everyone to put their hands up before escorting them out of the school.
Trent Ernst, a local journalist and a former substitute teacher at Tumbler Ridge, expressed shock over the shooting at the school, where one of his children has just graduated.
He noted that school shootings have been a rarity occurring every few years in Canada compared with the United States, where they are far more frequent.
“I used to kind of go: ‘Look at Canada, look at who we are.’ But then that one school shooting every 2.5 years happens in your town and things… just go off the rails,” he told AFP.
Ken Floyd, commander of the police’s northern district, said Tuesday: “This has been an incredibly difficult and emotional day for our community, and we are grateful for the cooperation shown as officers continue their work to advance the investigation.”
Floyd told reporters the shooter was the same suspect police described as “female” in a prior emergency alert to community members, but declined to provide any details on the suspect’s identity.
The police said officers were searching other homes and properties in the community to see if there were additional sites connected to the incident.
No comments:
Post a Comment