Just over 40 years ago, Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, was created as a vision of Canada’s future.
Although it was hacked out of deep mountain woods as a base for two new mines to supply coal to Japanese steel makers, it had little in common with most Canadian resource communities aside from its remoteness.
In this new model of a resource town, the vast open-pit mines were built well outside the community. The province of British Columbia rejected work camps for the miners in favor of tidy family homes linked by carefully designed curving streets, green spaces and a downtown within walking distance of most residents. It is a place where people don’t lock their doors.
Now the peaceful mountain isolation of Tumbler Ridge is over.
To the shock of Canadians, most of whom had probably never heard of the town of 2,400 before Tuesday, six students were shot dead in the high school and two other people were shot and killed at a home. The 18-year-old shooter ultimately killed herself.
[Read: The Young Lives Lost and Upended in Canada’s Mass Shooting]
I arrived in the aftermath. The scene in the town was reminiscent, if different from in many ways, of what I found in Humboldt, Saskatchewan, in 2018 after the bus collision that killed 16 players and staff members from the town’s hockey team.
Despite the unseasonably mild weather, much of Tumbler Ridge took refuge in their homes. The people who did go out wore dazed looks of profound shock.
Most of the victims were just 12 or 13 years old. I’m unable to adequately capture the grief I witnessed when Sarah Lampert remembered, at times in a barely audible whisper, her 12-year-old daughter, Ticaria, or Tiki.
[Read: What We Know About the Deadly Mass Shooting in Canada]
The shooter, Jesse Van Rootselaar, also killed her mother, Jennifer Jacobs, 39, and her 11-year-old brother, Emmett Jacobs, in their home. On Friday, investigators in coveralls were still going in and out of the house. Two bicycles were stuck in the snow in the front yard.
Ms. Van Rootselaar’s history of mental health problems leading up to the shooting rampage also highlighted what several residents told me has been a longtime concern of the community: the limited access to health care generally in the Tumbler Ridge area and the near total absence of mental health support.
Most medical appointments involve a drive of 90 minutes to two hours over mountain highways that are often treacherous in winter. Full mental health services are four hours away and are often overwhelmed. Recent cutbacks mean that emergency services in the town’s medical clinic are now offered only during business hours. Anything else involves a long ambulance ride or an air evacuation.
My colleagues Matina Stevis-Gridneff, Vjosa Isai, Aric Toler, Pranav Baskar, Malachy Browne and Amy Harmon examined and verified the online history Ms. Van Rootselaar left behind. It depicts a young person’s gradual descent into mental health crises and radicalization into extreme violence.
[Read: Before Mass Killing, Mental Breakdowns and Online Violent Extremism]
As the week wore on, most people became reluctant to be quoted about the horror that had fallen on Tumbler Ridge. But they would talk informally. Many spoke about the surrealism of having the world’s attention turned on their small town and its tragedy.
That was further highlighted on Friday night when a contingent of political and ceremonial leaders joined the community vigil in front of the town hall. The group included Prime Minister Mark Carney; Pierre Poilievre, the Conservative opposition leader; and Governor General Mary Simon.
The predominantly red paint scheme of the town hall, along with some holiday lights remaining in trees, was incongruous in appearance but couldn’t hide the community’s sorrow.
After remembering the victims and praying for those still recovering from injuries, Mr. Carney had a message for those who had lost their children.
“When we leave here tonight, some you will go back to quiet houses; some of you will go home to empty rooms,” he said. “Please know that you’re not alone.”
Trans Canada
This section was compiled by Shawna Richer, an editor on the International desk at The Times.
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Ian Austen reports on Canada for The Times. A Windsor, Ontario, native now based in Ottawa, he has reported on the country for two decades. He can be reached at [email protected].
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Ian Austen reports on Canada for The Times. A Windsor, Ontario, native now based in Ottawa, he has reported on the country for two decades. He can be reached at [email protected].
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