On February 11, 2026, in East British Columbia, Canada, several were found dead due to a shooting. 8 were pronounced dead with at least 25 others found injured. The shooter, later identified as 18 year old Jesse Van Rootselaar, was found dead at the scene with a self-inflicted wound.  Student Darian Quist recalled the events and chaos of the shooting. “For a while I didn’t think anything was going on, but once everything was circulating and we realised something was wrong we got tables and barricaded the doors, and I believe we sat in there for two or two-and-a-half hours,” he told CBC. The victims ranged from around 11-13, excluding the 39 year old educator that was also killed, and Rootselaar herself. The victims were 13 year old Ezekial Schofield, 39 year old Jennifer Jacobs, 11 year old Emmett Jacobs, 12 year old Kylie Smith, 12 year old Zoey Benoit, and 12 year old Abel Mwansa, with 12 year old Maya Edmonds being in critical condition. The shooter, Jesse Van Rootselaar, was an 18 year old trans woman. Police had visited her house multiple times for mental health concerns. “I can say that on different occasions, the suspect was apprehended for assessment and follow up,” said Deputy Commissioner Dwayne Mcdonald. On Friday, Mcdonald said that neither the unregistered shotgun used in the attack at Rootselaar’s home, nor “the main firearm believed to be used in the mass shooting at the school” had ever been seized by the police prior to the shooting. The suspect previously had a valid gun licence that had since lapsed, McDonald said. The RCMP also said there had been guns in Van Rootselaar, the suspect’s home which had been seized by the police two years ago. Somebody in the family later successfully petitioned to get the guns back. Two firearms were found at the scene, a long gun, and a modified handgun, authorities say they don’t know how Van Rootselaar obtained these guns. Tumbler Ridge Mayor Darryl Krakowka told CBC that the community is small, and he expects to know every victim. “I will know every victim. I’ve been here 19 years, and we’re a small community,” Krakowka said, after emerging from the town hall when the shelter-in-place order was lifted. Hundreds of people gathered at a public square in Tumbler Ridge, placing flowers and holding candles at a community vigil. Tumbler ridge is a small, 2400 resident town that lies at the foothills of the Rocky mountains in northeast British Columbia. It was founded in the 1980s as a coal mining community, but the two mines later shut down.