TUMBLER RIDGE, B.C. — In this remote mountain town of 2,400, where the local secondary school is the beating heart of the community, the silence is now deafening.
On Tuesday, February 10, the peace of Tumbler Ridge was shattered by a mass shooting that left nine people dead, dozens injured, and a nation in mourning. What began at a private residence ended in the hallways of Tumbler Ridge Secondary School, marking the deadliest school shooting in Canada since the 1989 École Polytechnique massacre.
“I will know every victim,” said a visibly shaken Mayor Darryl Krakowka. “I don’t call them residents. I call them family.”
A Trail of Violence
The tragedy unfolded in two stages. Authorities believe the violence began at a local home, where the suspect—identified by the RCMP as 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar—allegedly shot and killed her mother, 39, and her 11-year-old stepbrother.
At approximately 1:20 p.m., the horror moved to the school. As students were settling into afternoon classes, reports of an active shooter triggered a frantic “hold and secure” lockdown. For the 175 students at the secondary school, the next two hours were a nightmare of barricaded doors and whispered prayers.
“We got tables and barricaded the doors,” recalled Darian Quist, a Grade 12 student. “For a while, I didn’t think anything was going on, but once photos started circulating… it definitely set in.”
The Toll on the Innocent
The RCMP confirmed that six people were found dead inside the school, including a 39-year-old female educator and five students—three 12-year-old girls and two boys aged 12 and 13. The suspect was found dead at the scene from a self-inflicted wound.
The scale of the carnage overwhelmed local resources. Two students were airlifted to hospitals in critical condition, while 25 others were treated for non-life-threatening injuries at the local health centre. In a town this small, the grief is universal; nearly every resident is a neighbor, a friend, or a relative of those lost.
The Suspect and the ‘Why’
Investigators are now grappling with the motive behind the rampage. Deputy Commissioner Dwayne McDonald noted a history of police calls to the suspect’s home related to mental health issues. Van Rootselaar, a former student who had dropped out, reportedly used a long gun and a modified handgun, despite having an expired firearms license and no registered weapons.
As flags across Canada are lowered to half-mast, Prime Minister Mark Carney cancelled an upcoming European summit to address the tragedy. “The world is with you,” he told the people of Tumbler Ridge in an emotional address from Parliament Hill.
A Community in Mourning
The local elementary and secondary schools will remain closed for the rest of the week as counseling services are deployed. For the survivors, the trauma is only beginning. The images of “disturbing” scenes shared on student cellphones during the lockdown have left deep psychological scars on a generation of children who once felt safe in their isolated Rocky Mountain foothills.
“Crime is incredibly low here,” said town councillor Chris Norbury, whose wife and daughter were in lockdown during the attack. “It’s an incredible shock. We just have to think how to come together as a family.”
In the coming days, the vigils will begin. But for now, Tumbler Ridge is a town frozen in the wake of an unimaginable loss, holding its children close and searching for answers in the cold mountain air.