‘The tears just keep flowing’: child victims of Tumbler Ridge shooting remembered as Carney heads to join vigil

Canadian prime minister Mark Carney is to join mourners in Tumbler Ridge on Friday, as authorities and relatives released details of the six children and assistant teacher killed by a shooter in the remote mining town’s high school.Carney will attend a vigil in Tumbler Ridge in memory of the victims, and he invited leaders from all political parties to join him in the town, the site of the country’s deadliest mass shooting in years.Among the dead was 12-year-old Kylie Smith, whose family remembered her as “the light in our family”.“She loved her family, friends, and going to school,” her family said in a statement. “She was a talented artist and had dreams of going to art school in the big city of Toronto. Rest in paradise, sweet girl, our family will never be the same without you.”Kylie Smith Photograph: APKylie’s father, Lance Younge, recounted how he spent six hours walking around the local recreation center where students were reuniting with their families trying to learn what happened to his daughter.Younge told CTV News: “I went home not knowing where my daughter was until a high school kid … came here and told us her story about trying to save my daughter’s life,” he said.The family of 12-year-old victim Zoey Benoit described her as “resilient, vibrant, smart, caring and the strongest little girl you could meet”.Zoey Benoit Photograph: APPeter Schofield, whose grandson, 13-year-old Ezekiel Schofield, was killed, shared his grief in a Facebook post, saying: “Everything feels so surreal. The tears just keep flowing.”Ezekiel Schofield Photograph: APAbel Mwansa Sr, the father of 12-year-old Abel Mwansa Jr wrote on Facebook that he was “broken” seeing his son’s body “lifeless”.He added: “Seeing you leaving the house with that beautiful smile while going to Tumbler Ridge high school was so refreshing … I saw a bright future, a leader, an engineer, also a scientist in you.”Abel Mwansa Photograph: APSarah Lampert, whose 12-year-old daughter Ticaria was among those killed, told reporters: “She just wanted to bring sunshine to everything and everyone she ever touched.“I now have to figure out how to live life without her.”Authorities on Thursday identified the remaining victim as assistant teacher Shannda Aviugana-Durand, 39.The suspect’s mother – 39-year-old mother, Jennifer Jacobs, also known as Jennifer Strang – and 11-year-old stepbrother Emmett Jacobs were found dead at the family home nearby, while the suspected shooter – identified as Jesse Van Rootselaar – was found at the school with a self-inflicted gunshot wound.Emmett Jacobs Photograph: APPolice have said they were called on multiple occasions to the home of the teenage suspect behind one of Canada’s deadliest school shootings after concerns were raised regarding mental health problems and weapons.Dwayne McDonald, a deputy commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP): “Police had attended that residence on multiple occasions over the past several years dealing with concerns of mental health with respect to our suspect,” McDonald said. On different occasions the suspect had been apprehended under the country’s mental health act for assessment and follow-up, he added.McDonald also said that at least one of the interactions with police related to weapons. “Police have attended that residence in the past, approximately a couple of years ago, where firearms were seized under the criminal code,” he said. “At a later point in time, the lawful owner of those firearms petitioned for those firearms to be returned and they were.”The suspect had a firearms licence that had expired in 2024 and did not have any firearms registered in her name, he said.Trent Ernst, publisher of Tumbler RidgeLines, the town’s biweekly newspaper, said one of the biggest frustrations in the community was the lack of medical support and in particular mental health services, in the town which lies more than 1,000km (600 miles) northeast of Vancouver“The majority of people that I’ve talked to are sad more at the fact that Tumbler Ridge doesn’t have the level of support for mental health and health services in general,” he said.“Right now, there are five mental health nurses in town. But this is the exception, and it’s an exceptional situation. There are times where we’ll go months, if not years, without having anybody in mental health services in town,” he said.Mourners braved frigid cold on Wednesday night to honour the victims, with Mayor Darryl Krakowka telling them, “It’s OK to cry.”Krakowka described the town as “one big family,” and encouraged people to reach out and support each other, especially the families of those who died in the attack. The community must support victims’ families “forever,” not only in the days and weeks to come, he said.With Associated Press and Agence France-Presse