In a rare display of political unity, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney stood alongside opposition leaders Pierre Poilievre (Conservative) and Yves-Francois Blanchet (Bloc Quebecois) at a Friday evening vigil in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia. The remote community of approximately 2,400 residents became the site of one of Canada’s most devastating mass shootings earlier this week.
The solemn gathering, attended by Governor General Mary Simon as King Charles’ representative, honored eight victims killed by 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar on Tuesday. According to Royal Canadian Mounted Police Deputy Commissioner Dwayne McDonald, the perpetrator—who had experienced significant mental health challenges—initially murdered her mother and stepbrother before proceeding to the school where she indiscriminately shot victims before dying by suicide.
Law enforcement revealed troubling details about firearm management in the case. While police had previously confiscated weapons from Van Rootselaar’s residence, they returned them after the owner successfully appealed the decision. Deputy Commissioner McDonald clarified that the primary weapons used in the attack had not been among those temporarily seized, though he declined to comment on two additional firearms utilized during the shooting.
The Canadian Coalition for Firearm Rights has raised serious concerns about why weapons were returned to a household with a mentally ill resident. This tragedy marks Canada’s deadliest school shooting and ranks among the nation’s most severe mass shootings since the April 2020 Nova Scotia incident that claimed 22 lives.
Victims included five students aged 12-13—Abel Mwansa, Ezekiel Schofield, Kylie Smith, Zoey Benoit, and Ticaria Lampert—along with 39-year-old educator Shannda Aviugana-Durand. Grieving mother Sarah Lampert remembered her daughter as ‘a blazing light in the darkness’ who sought to bring sunshine to everyone she encountered. The community has requested privacy as families process their unimaginable loss.