Eight people, including six children, were killed in a deadly mass shooting that rocked Tumbler Ridge, a small, close-knit community located in British Columbia.
Among those killed Tuesday in what has become one of the deadliest shootings in Canadian history are Abel Mwansa Jr. and Kylie May, both 12, according to their families. Police are yet to release the victims’ identities.
More than 25 other people were taken to a local clinic with possible injuries, but police later said no “discernible physical injuries were identified.” There were two victims with “significant injuries” airlifted to the hospital.
The suspected shooter, 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar, who police say killed her 39-year-old mother and 11-year-old stepbrother at a nearby home before opening fire at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School, was also found dead with a “self-inflicted injury.”
Police said the teenager was born biologically male but had been transitioning to female over the past six years. She was not a student at the school but it was not immediately clear if she had previously studied at Tumbler Ridge Secondary.
open image in galleryA 39-year-old female educator, three 12-year-old female students, a 12-year-old male student and a 13-year-old male student were killed at the school.
Here is everything we know about the victims of the shooting.
Abel Mwansa Jr.
The son of a pastor, Abel Mwansa Jr., was killed Tuesday, according to an announcement from Burning Bush Ministries International – City of Grace Chapel shared on Facebook.
open image in gallery“This loss has brought profound grief to the family, the church, and all who knew and loved him. We kindly ask the Christian community, friends, and well-wishers to stand with the Mwansa family in prayer, love, and support during this difficult time,” the announcement read.
The boy’s parents, pastor Abel Mwansa and Bwalya Chisanga, mourned their son on social media, writing in a post that he will be greatly missed.
Mwansa said in another post that his son was a “good kid” who never missed school, writing in all caps, “Lord I thank you for 12 years 11 months we spent with you.”
Kylie May
Kylie May was remembered as a “beautiful, kind, innocent soul,” on a GoFundMe page created by Kylie’s aunt, Shanon Dycke.
open image in gallery“We are completely devastated and have no words as we try to process the magnitude of the situation,” Dycke wrote.
The fundraiser was created to cover expenses for Kylie’s family in the coming months, including a way to memorialize Kylie, which has yet to be planned.
“My heart aches for the other families involved and for the loss of their children. I am so sorry,” Dycke wrote. “To the families with children still in the hospital; keep fighting. We are sending you prayers.”
It's unclear whether the families of the other six victims killed in the shooting have commented publicly on their loved ones and police are yet to formerly identify those who died.
Maya
A GoFundMe page has been created, identifying a girl named Maya as one of the victims injured in the shooting.
Krysta Hunt, the cousin of Maya’s mother, Cia Edmonds, organized the fundraiser to support the 12-year-old girl through her recovery. More than $192,700 has already been raised.
“All we know is that Maya made it through transport from Tumbler Ridge to Vancouver Children’s Hospital and currently in critical care,” Krysta wrote on the page verified by CNN. The Independent has not verified the fundraiser, and authorities have yet to release the names of those injured in the shooting.
In a note from Maya’s mother included on the page, she said her daughter is “fighting for her life while they try to repair the damage” from a gunshot wound to the head and neck.
Edmonds said in an update, “What felt like a shred of hope, feels as fragile as life itself, but we just cant give up hope.”
