Canada's Grief

"These kids should be playing hockey or just being kids but life has just been completely turned upside down."

"We know every single person that lost a child, it's a tragedy that has hit our quiet town ... and I just don't really have the words to describe what happened."

"We stayed for those families whose children were not accounted for, it's what we do."

"The number of family members who are dealing with this ... the moms and dads, the sisters and brothers and grandparents ... suddenly people from our congregation are gone."

"It's overwhelming." 

Reverend Gerald Krauss, New Life Assembly 

 

"As we come together in grief and solidarity, it is clear that those impacted will need our support-- not only emotionally but also financially -- as they navigate the challenges ahead."

"Our community has always stood strong in times of adversity, and this is an opportunity for us to extend a helping hand to those who need it most."

Tumbler Ridge Parent Advisory Council

Students walk out of the school building with their hands up after an assailant opened fire in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, Tuesday. Photograph: Western Standard/Jordon Kosik/Reuters

 

It's a modest goal ... to raise $30,000  in support of the families impacted by the dreadful mass shooting that took place in the small remote community of Tumbler Ridge on Tuesday, when a former pupil at the Tumbler Ridge Secondary School armed with deadly weapons rampaged through the school on a killing mission. The killer, named by the RCMP as an 18-year-old who had never completed school but left four years earlier and who, around that same time began to transform himself from a male to a female, showed up at the school dressed identifiably as a woman.

 

He/she shot to death a 36-year-old teacher, three 12-year-old girls, a 12 and two 12 and 13-year old boys. There were 26 students who suffered gunshot wounds, a number of them in critical condition. Two children were in critical condition, one 12-year-old girl was airlifted by medical helicopter to Vancouver. She had been shot in the head and the neck and it was uncertain whether she would survive. Police also went to a house about a five-minute drive from the school, where they found the killer's mother and his 11-year-old stepbrother, both shot dead.  

"This community only has 2,400 people ... That community will have almost every single person affected directly."

"Who do you lean on, when everybody is affected?"

Stephen Fuhr, Member of Parliament for Kelowna, B.C. 

Jesse Van Rootselaar, 18, transgender, will live on in infamy as having perpetrated one of the worst mass shootings in the  history of Canada. Both a long gun and a modified handgun were taken into evidence by police. The town in northwestern British Columbia will never be the same again. Tumbler Ridge RCMP had been alerted to an active shooting at 1:00 p.m. on Tuesday. It took little time for them to find six people dead; five in the school library and the sixth in a stairwell. Dead also was the killer who had committed suicide.

 

  

 

Most of the young people who had been injured in the shooting melee were treated at the site. The emergency alert received by police  described the suspect as "a female in a dress with brown hair". Police did not just spontaneously appear at the private home; they were contacted, the home identified as one where a dread scenario had played out prior to the killer's appearance at the school.  Students whom police had led out of the school for safety were released to their parents' care at the nearby town community centre once the lockdown was lifted.

 

School District 59 officials circulated a decision to suspend normal school activities for both the Tumbler Ridge Secondary School and Tumbler Ridge Elementary for the remainder of the week. Trauma counselling and other supports were in the process of meeting the needs of students, teachers and school staff.

Photo by PAIGE TAYLOR WHITE /AFP via Getty Images   Vancouver Sun

 

"This was a rapidly evolving and dynamic situation, and the swift cooperation from the school, first responders, and the community played a critical role in our response."

"Our thoughts are with the families, loved ones, and all those impacted by this tragic incident."

"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."

Superintendent Ken Floyd, North District Commander, B.C. RCMP