The Current - What we know about the deadly shootings in Tumbler Ridge, BC

Episode Date: February 11, 2026

 An 'unimaginable tragedy' in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia. Yesterday afternoon, a shooter entered the local secondary school and opened fire. At least 10 people in the tight-knit rural community are dead, including the suspected shooter. It's the second deadliest school shooting in Canadian history. We check in with the community to hear what happened, and how they are leaning on each other in the wake of this tragedy. We also speak with Dr. Shimi Kang, a child psychiatrist about how to talk to your kids about school violence.

The firehose of news from America can feel like a lot these days. If you're trying to figure out what to make of it all, we got you. I'm Katie Simpson. And I'm Paul Hunter. We're correspondents here in Washington. Working just around the corner from where much of the action is taking place. Two blocks from the White House. And that's the name of our new podcast. For top-notch analysis of U.S. politics from a Canadian perspective,

find two blocks from the White House every Wednesday, wherever you get your podcasts. including YouTube. This is a CBC podcast. Hello, I'm Matt Galloway, and this is the current podcast. The community of Tumblr Ridge in northern British Columbia is dealing with what BC Premier David Eby calls an unimaginable tragedy. Nine people were killed yesterday afternoon. The suspect is also dead.

Six people were found dead inside Tumblr Ridge Secondary School. One died on the way to the hospital. Two more were found dead. in a home which police believe to be connected to the school shooting. I'm joined now by the CBC's Tanya Fletcher. Thanks for joining us this morning, Tanya. You back. Good morning, Peter. Walk us through about what we do know at this point,

about what unfolded yesterday afternoon. Yeah, so it was a fluid and a developing situation. It unfolded over the course of several hours, really. It was around 1.30 local time in the afternoon that police received reports of an active shooter at Tumblr Ridge Secondary School. A lockdown alert was sent out to locals. Many got this notification on their cell phones. It urged people to shelter in place the message saying, you know, don't leave your home or business. Stay inside. Many were boarding up windows and just trying to stay away from any of the entrances and exits.

And this lasted for roughly four hours. So just imagine the uncertainty and the chaos for that long, not knowing what was going on if your loved ones were safe, not being able to get much information. And ultimately, as you mentioned, six victims were found dead inside that high school. Another person died on the way to the hospital. And then we had that other site as well. Two more people found dead inside a home, police believe, to be connected to the shooting. And the only suspect was also found dead inside the school from an apparent suicide. We got basic information in that lockdown order. When we found out there's an active shooter, police said something about who the,

the shooter might have been, but now they're being very careful to make sure they don't say too much. What are they telling us about the suspect at this point? Honestly, not much more, nothing more than what we first heard initially. They did say the suspect was the same person that they had described in their shelter-in-place lockdown alert. And in that alert, they described the suspect as a female wearing a dress with brown hair. At this point, that's the only description we've heard. the person's name, gender are not being publicly released.

Police say they know the identity or knew the identity, but they're not releasing that to the public yet. They were saying, you know, for privacy reasons, next of kin to be notified for the victims, etc. And they're also investigating, obviously, the possible motive here. But, you know, no doubt police will be pressed for more information today as people want more answers.

You could sense in that news conference with the police last night that they were trying, to say as little as they can to make sure, I presume, what they do know and do say is correct. But obviously so many questions. One of those questions is, as you mentioned, there were two sites here. There was the shooting at the school. There were also these two people found dead in a home. Have police said anything about how the two sites are connected? No, at this point, they're basically saying they believe they are connected, but that's about it. Another thing we don't know, you know, the specific timeline of what happened where and when, which one happened,

and first. What kind of connection, if any, between the shooter and the victims? Why those locations? Why was there a home or residence? And then the school? Or in reverse order? We don't know. What was the motive here? Was there any common thread between the victims themselves? What specific weapon was used? We still don't know that. Were there any indications perhaps ahead of time that this was about to happen? So obviously, the list of things we don't know is much longer than the list of questions or answers we do have at this point. And I presume, Tanya, in a town this small, the people in the community that, as you say, the sun is coming up on a dark, dark day there, but they probably know more than the rest of us do.

In such a tight-knit community, they're bound to know all the victims. And that's the challenge I think our C&P are going to have is the rumors are rampant, the speculation. I think a lot of people probably do know some answers. but they have yet to hear that from police themselves. You know, even about the victims. Obviously, in a small town, you know who is affected perhaps, and you can see, you know, your neighbors or your friends or your coworkers. So we don't know as far as the victims go their ages, their names,

were they students, were they teachers, were they other staff? But you're right. The mayor of Timberlour Ridge, you mentioned you'll speak to him as well. But he says he will know every. victim. He's been there 19 years. Yeah, a small community. He says, and I heard it in that opening clip, he doesn't call them residents. He calls them family members. That pastor as well, you know, he used to be a teacher at the school. Exactly. And those are a lot of parallels we're hearing, too, is people, you know, he's a pastor now. He used to be a teacher. One of the people who worked at

the health care center, you know, has a son that goes there. And so there are so many intertwined connections in this community. And the pastor, as well, we heard last night, he was speaking to us. And he said he was at, I believe it was the community center or wherever our C&P were kind of holding as their main point of contact with the community. And family members who likely had children involved were gathered there. And the pastor was there himself to provide support. And he was saying it was just devastating watching many of these parents not knowing the fate of their child. Could they be among the 25 still injured? that was in some ways the hope that they weren't among the deceased,

but it was still late into the night, almost midnight local time, and people still didn't know if their child was still alive. I think everybody hearing that just had shivers run through them as they try to imagine themselves in this terrible, awful situation. You mentioned the injured, the wounded. Do we know anything really at this point about their injuries, how and where they're being treated? No, that's the other big unknown.

We do know some patients were airlifted. There are about 25 who were assessed and triaged at that local medical center for a range of injuries. But we do know that multiple people were airlifted presumably to a bigger center, obviously maybe Kelowna, perhaps Vancouver. We still don't know exactly where they are, how they're doing. Again, that will be hopefully among the updates we will hear soon from officials, there are still so many outstanding questions about, you know, who is involved and how this will affect people's lives there. Well, I really appreciate you making sense of all this for us this morning, Tanya.

Thanks for your time. You bet. Thanks, Peter. Tanya Fletcher is a CBC reporter in British Columbia. Now, Darien Quist is a student at the school where the shooting happened. He and his mother, Shelley, spoke with Sarah Penton, host of CBC Radio's West yesterday. I've never been through a lockdown in the school before. The alarm starts going off.

Ms. Dealey's running around in the hallways on the phone. She's saying, this is the lockdown, close the doors. For a while, I didn't think anything was going on. I thought it was just like maybe a secure and hold. But once everything started circulating, we kind of realized that something was wrong. We got tables and barricaded the doors. And I believe we sat in there for about two hours, two hours, 30 minutes until members of the RC&P. I believe SWAT had come through the door and escorted us all out of the,

high school. And so what was it like in the classroom that whole time? It's definitely tense. I think we were all very nervous, so we tried to keep things light and just try and keep each other motivated and not fall into grief. But once people sent me some photos, it definitely set in what was actually happening. What kind of photos were they sending? They were disturbing, just showing blood and things like that. man. Darian, I'm so sorry. How scared were you? I was definitely pretty scared. I was wondering if we were formulating an escape plan if anyone did come up to the door that we were going to run out to the garage door and out of the back. How many of you were there in the classroom at the time? Maybe 15, I think,

maybe 14. A relatively small class. Was a teacher there with you? Yeah, Mr. Nurener. was our teacher. Yeah. What was he doing? He was just making sure everyone was in the correct place, making sure everything was going smoothly. I think once we realized he kind of organized us all to start moving the tables towards the doors and just formulating our escape plan if anything did happen.

So, and Shelley, I was watching you when Darien first started telling me about what it was like. You took a big breath in. I mean, you're sitting there. You're his mom. I can't imagine what this must be like for you. you? Yeah, a roller coaster of emotions is a nice way to put it right now. I was sitting in the lab doing some work and my co-worker came and asked me if I knew what was happening at the high school. And that's when I saw RCMP everywhere. Fire was staged ambulances. There was an RCMP in Couchdown.

in our parking lot with his gun drawn. And that's when I called Darien. And I told him just to leave me on the phone, even like when he needed to be quiet, just be quiet. I can't imagine what that must have been like for you. Yeah. It's one of those things where you just never think this is going to happen. Yeah. And he's okay.

I'm sorry. I'm just. all over the place today. Of course, of course. And when did you find out that he was going to be able to get let out and he's going to be okay? Tell me what that was. Well, I had heard that some of the students were being escorted out. And then when they started kicking in the door, I heard that.

And just kind of, yeah, the, you know, hands up. And I was hearing that through Daryan's phone. Wow. And then that's when I left home, like we live very close, like a block and a half away from the community center. I literally almost ran over there. And, yeah, like panic setting in until I laid eyes on him. And then what was it like to actually hold him? Oh, I gave him a very, very big of.

And he's not going to be out of my sight for a while now. George Rowe is a pastor at the Tumblr Ridge Fellowship Baptist Church. He was also a substitute teacher in that community. George, thank you for joining us on such a dark morning. Thank you. And good morning to you. If I could just begin, how are you holding up? How are you doing this morning?

Golly, that's a big question. A lot of emotions. I haven't really slept the night at all. just thinking, going back over 35 years, my wife and I and our family moved here. And we've been thinking about all of the good memories, high school graduations, my time teaching, etc. And they come to realize that a tragedy like this hit this small community. It's like the word unimaginable, I've probably heard it 100 times in the last 10 or 12 hours. and really tough to take it in.

It's very emotional. A lot of these families, of course, I know. And, yeah, it's going to take some time for the healing, coming together, helping each other. But we'll be there. We'll be there for each other for sure. I wonder what you do in these moments. I mean, so many families are in such shock and such pain. And what is a message to them today?

Well, people I talk with, there's the message of hope. And we need to wait as well. Like, there's a lot of unanswered questions out there. And parents are asking why. Like, even as we speak now, there are still parents who aren't, haven't not been informed whether their child survived or not. And so I left the center late last night, and when I got home, it was confirmed that one family member was confirmed deceased. Now, whether there are more since then, I'm not aware.

But when I was listening to the conversation at the center, it was suggested it would be by morning, early morning, maybe, before they had everything resolved as far as who were deceased. I don't want to go back through the moment of it too much, but you worked as a teacher in that high school. Did your kids graduate from there as well? Yes. Three of our kids graduated from there, our two daughters and our son. And so when I see that school, again, all these memories are going to come back. I loved working there again, even within the school. itself with the teachers and all of the students, you were a family. You knew everybody.

And some of these kids that I was able to teach back years ago are now themselves's parents. And in fact, some of them might have had children involved in that tragedy yesterday. And so, yeah, we'll work through it and help each other where we can. You said you were in the center. So you're working with local authorities. Have you had a chance to speak with some of the families whose children go to that school now? Yes, I spoke to some of the families last night. In fact, one of the couple I actually married them some years ago, and their son was involved in the tragedy as well.

And when I had left last night, they had not had confirmed by the investigating team. So we'll see what happens. I'll be in contact with them again today. I feel like with everything I learn about this town, your last line that one of these families, you married them, it just reinforces the notion and the understanding that a town of this size, that, you know, that every,

it really is family across the board. This isn't friends and neighbors or a guy you saw walking down the street. This is a very close, tight-knit community. Absolutely. I like the concept of our mayor when he referred to them as a family, and that's exactly what it is.

You know, you meet guys and gals around town. It's a high. How are you doing? You just shake hands. How's your mom doing? How's your son doing? How did the operation go? How are things at work?

Can you carry on that conversation like it's your sibling, your neighbor? And so the impact of this here is, again, I'll use the word unimaginable, but we're reaching out to each other. And that's the big thing is to be there. I know last night when I had gone in, like, what do you say and how do you say it? And in some of these situations, you just need to listen, listen carefully, listen intentionally, and speak only when you really have to speak. because I know some of them just want to get stuff off their chest, so to speak. And to know that you're there with other pastors as well, just to know that you're there helps bring comfort,

though we don't have all the answers. And that's the kind of a community that we live in. And the camaraderie and the love and the fellowship will never leave this town. Never. And we're going to be much stronger as a result of that because we're going to heal together, that's for sure. The whole country, George, is reeling for your community. And I get the sense just in text messages from friends and in statements from, you know,

leaders, the prime minister, that everybody's really struggling with what to do and what they can do to show their support. I think you have really good advice about listen, listen carefully, speak only when you have to. What can the rest of the country do to show them? their support for Tumblridge today? Well, I just did an interview with this out of Dublin, and

the same question was asked, what can you do? Practically, I'm not sure other than I can pass on the messages that I've been receiving and saying, you know, the country is with you, the country is behind you, the country is supporting you,

And locally, of course, counseling sessions. I've had calls from right across the country. And we've got counseling services coming in. We're making our church available for sure for some of the little practical things. But they know the country is behind them, and we need to convey that message to them. Because right now, the last thing on their mind is what is the new saying? Like, what's the world saying? They're dealing with their deep, deep.

Excuse me, but they're dealing with the emotions of a lost, loved one. Yeah. And you have to be there, you have to look in their eyes, you have to see their body language to try and appreciate what they're going through. But once the dust to settle, the realization comes that they're not alone, that the country is behind them, will again further their hope. that the road that they will tread will eventually become a little smoother than the one they're walking on right now. Well, George, I think it's important to note that you need to take care of yourself as well.

The spiritual leaders can only be as supportive as they can if you're, you know, you're seeking support yourself, right? Absolutely. Both my wife and I, and we've dealt with lots of tragedies in the past. of course, not to this extent. But again, you're talking about the community. As the local pastor here, I've done, I don't know how many celebrations of life. People that I worked with years ago with the Minesite,

a lot of these, when they passed, I was asked to come and, you know, sort of there's that interconnectedness. For sure. And that love. So, yeah, my wife and I are doing well. We've got great support from our family, our kids and grandchildren,

and that's all good. Well, we're going to have to leave it there, but I do appreciate you speaking with us and the work you're doing there and do take care of yourself this morning. Thank you very much, and you have a great day. And again, thanks for just allowing me to speak. Indeed.

George Rowe is a pastor at the Tumblr Ridge Fellowship Baptist Church. If you're worried about feeling lonely in the afterlife, why not hire a corpse bride? In Lindsay Wong's new novel, a grad student becomes a corpse bride to pay off her family's debt. If that sounds made up, think again. Here's what Lindsay told me on my podcast, bookends.

In Chinese culture, there's this idea of an arranged deaf marriage. It's called Ming Hun. And so sometimes we'll just try to find another dead body or they'll try to find a living person. Usually a marginalized person, they'll kill them and put them in a coffin. Check out the rest of that conversation on bookends with me, Matea Roach, wherever you get your podcasts. Across the country, people are in shock.

with the news of this mass shooting at the secondary school in Tumblr Ridge, BC. Joining me now is Daryl Krakalka, the mayor of Tumblr Ridge. Mayor, appreciate you coming on this morning. Thank you. Yeah, thanks, Peter for the invite. My condolences, obviously, to you and your entire community. How are you holding up this morning? Oh.

No, I think reality's starting to kick in a bit more. Yeah. Yeah, it's a very tragic. for a small community. Yeah, pretty stunned. I think pretty numb. I guess it's not about me. It's about the families.

It's more our community. I think people are still just learning a bit about Tumblr Ridge. It's in one of my favorite parts of the country. Can you tell us a little bit about your town and your community and just, you know, everyone says these words about its tight-knit community and it's really close. Words can hardly convey it though, can it? Yeah, we're 100%. It's about 2,700 people here.

And to me, we talk residents, to me, their family. We're one big family here in Tumblridge. And, you know, this community comes together so strong and support each other with other, you know, with other events we've gone through with fire evacuations and such like that. And, yeah, it's just like one big family. To me, we live in a rural, remote area of northern B.C., and to me it's God's, it's God's Paris.

And it's just, to me, it's one big family here. It's a very open community when new residents move here. It's so supportive of everybody within our community. It's, you know, it's one big family. And to see a tragic event that happened yesterday at the secondary school. And, you know, as we learn more and more, and as more information comes out, and investigations happen and we get updated more.

And, you know, We lost family members of history. Yeah. The community, of course, is reeling. And as a leader in that community, people turn to you for guidance, for help. What are they telling you? What do they need this morning? Yeah, I know, I think everybody needs support.

People are going to need, you know, like, ears and when people want to talk, you know, but let them have your ear or a shoulder or a hug. I think we'll see lots of that here in the day. to come. And I think that's important. And I think we'll see the community again come together like that, you know, lend the ear when they, when somebody needs it and, you know, your shoulder when they need it or they need to hug. I think we'll see that within our, within this community. Like I said again, such a strong, strong community. And, you know, we need to be there for, for the, for the residents and for the families that, you know, have gone through something fairly tragic

yesterday and you know as we wait and hear about how how some of the students are doing that were medevaced out or ground transport it out you know we need to be there to support them and and their parents and stuff like that and you know just people that went through it our teachers our first responders their cmp or volunteer fire department bc amids and the nurses the doctors everybody over at the house center i think it's really important that we come together and And support, give an ear, give them a hug. I think it's going to be so important. That need is going to get even more important and sharper still as we get more information.

And obviously, you need to tell the community and the direct family the information first as the rest of us can wait. But do you have a sense of when we'll get a new update on some of this information, some of these questions that we've had since yesterday? Yeah, you know, I thought about that all night. Trying to think, like, again, I mean, the RACFB have to do their investigation, and I fully understand, and they've been great, and government's been great, you know, with response and stuff,

but when do we start getting some of the more information so we can make sure that we have the right support in our communities and stuff? And I think, you know, I'll learn more this morning, you know, hopefully as the morning progresses, You know, government, I know, is working hard on making sure we get some counselors with boots on the ground. Same as school, District 59, they've reached out. They will have some counselors with boots on the ground here in the community this morning for teachers and students and such.

And I know provincial government dealing with ministry, they're on it too. And, you know, I think we learn more and more, as more information will come out, what's actually needed for the community, for families here. and governments promise that, you know, they're on it. They're ready and willing to make sure we have the support we're going to need. The response time from the police was, I think they've responded in two minutes. Can you tell us how the police responded to the shooting? Yeah, I mean, I heard the same thing. It was about two-minute response time.

I mean, I think, yeah, I mean, that's pretty amazing. You know, I think, you know, their response, small community, and stuff, but, you know, the response of an immediate, an alert coming out of the, from the Tumblridge, R-C-NP about a shelter in place, I think that also was a big step and came out early, and, you know, I, you know, I think that helped. And nobody knew if it was, you know, if the individual was in the school or by the school, like, until more information came out. I mean, I think the alert was important to make sure that, you know, they, you know,

they try to protect as many residents as possible getting that alert out. So, yeah, I haven't talked to our local RCNP detachment members at all. I was updated by the commanding officer out of Prince George. So, again, as more information comes out, I think it's, they kind of gives us a pulse of what we need to support the families of Tumblr. I mean, anybody who's lived in a small town knows those detachment officers, the health care workers, it's not like a big city hospital where a bunch of people get rushed in, and never seen them before.

These are members of that community you've been talking about that is so close. Yeah. It's, again, I think everybody knows everybody. You know, I think I was asked how many times last night. Like, we had no. Do you know any of them? No, I know them all. We know them all.

I'm going to be there with support, you know, all the fams. I mean, the R.C&P would know them all. The house and I probably knows them all. You know what I mean? We do see the odd agency. nurse or go health nurse that comes in to assist our health center. But again, it's a small community. That's why I say it's a big family because, I mean, you, you know, after a new resident

moves in it, it's not very long that you don't know who they are and stuff like that. And like I said, it's just a such a strong, vibrant, close community that is just so open to each other. It's, you know, there's always issues in communities, but I mean, not something like this, not some tragic thing like this. I mean, it's so devastating. for this community, but this community will come out strong and support each other. People will see that. It'll just show how strong they are.

You know, we were talking earlier about the whole country is reeling for you and for your community and these families. The prime minister is talking about it to, you know, I'm getting texts from my sisters and neighbors about this. What do you even know what you could need from the rest of the country on a day like this? I don't. Until we grapple it and understand it, you know, figure out what the families need in the community, the big family, what's fully needed

and making sure we have the support to support this whole family and Tumblr. And, you know, that's what's been said, but we need to, they'll give us that. And I believe that. And, you know, I just think, again, we've got to come together as a big, family and give an ear when you need to give an ear, give a shoulder when you need to give a shoulder

when you need to give a shoulder. Give that hug. Like it's, uh, yeah, I think it's going to be important. It's going to be important not just today and tomorrow or next week. It's, you know, it's going to be a, you know, a lengthy recovery in my opinion and, and trying to grieve through this as a family and make sure we have the support for everybody involved. I think it's so, so important. I was just talking to George Rowe, who you know, uh, as a family. and asking him to make sure he's taking care of himself in these tough times to, as you say, get that hug and take that shoulder, allow yourself the support. And are you able to do that for yourself on a day like this?

Yeah. Yeah, I got, I got family, too. Yeah. In the community, I mean, like I said, it's just tough to, to, I don't know. I don't know how to say it. I just care. Yeah. We just need to be here for that.

We just need to be here for this family as a whole. And I don't know. I think I think I'm trying to think too much, trying to, you know, get the, you know, wonder why and could we have done something different? You know, the loss of life. And those are, those are, you know, people's family members, but they are in a family of Tumblr. Like, it's, it's pretty big.

Like, you know, you don't realize it. I mean, I think you realize it more and more as the hours go by. But now, there's lots of support here. I mean, you know, we have counselors coming in, but, I mean, I have support of counselors and ex-mares have reached out. Well, ministers have reached out. You know, staff at Town Hall have been great. You know, again, we just need to make sure we're supporting everybody.

So if people need an ear, you have, they have that opportunity. Or if they need a shoulder or a hug. I just think it's more, it's just so important as we, as we go through this, go through this as a, as a, as a big family and, and make sure that we're, we're doing our best to support each other and, and just try to come to, to, to terms and, and make sure people are taking care of it. It's so important for our young children and our youth and, you know, our adults. It's, it's, it's, it's going to be, you know, a little, a road to, to, to get there, but, This community is so strong and vibrant and stuff that will come out of this strong,

very supportive of each other. It'll just take time. It will. Daryl, do take care of yourself. I appreciate you making the time and just being so honest and raw with us this morning. Yeah, I thank you for that. Dary Kerkalka is the mayor of Tumblr Ridge, British Columbia. Larry Newfeld is the MLA for Peace River South, which includes the community of Tumblr Ridge.

Larry, good morning to you. Good morning, Peter. When did you first get word that something was going on in Tumblr Ridge? I believe from the timeline, I believe that I was aware very, very quickly as things unfolded. My office did receive a call from a constituent. Unfortunately, I was in a caucus meeting. We're not allowed telephones in there. But when my phone started lighting up, it was time to look at voicemails and texts and whatnot.

And unfortunately, I believe that I was aware very, very early on. You know, we just heard that heart-wrenching conversation with the mayor talking about his community and what they're going through, what he's feeling. What have you been hearing from residents? I am not aware of a word in the English language that is strong enough to convey the level of devastation that has occurred to this community. community. It's, I, I don't have words strong enough to convey. These are my family. These are my friends. These are my constituents. And this, this has hurt me as a human being. You know, I was talking with the mayor. We were talking with the pastor earlier about, you know, everyone from outside the country is reeling and our hearts are just bursting for them and with them. And I think people will struggle today, but what can they do?

What can they provide? Can they, you know, light a candle or do something? What do you see as your role as the local MLA in light of this tragedy? My role in my mind is to provide support wherever I can. And I will, as Darrell said earlier, every phone call that I made last night, whether it was midnight, whether it was 2 a.m., ministers within every level of government or answering their personal cell phones, assuring me that every resource of is being dispatched, if not already has been.

So in my mind, certainly the crisis management, the counseling, all the mental health components that are going to be critically necessary in the next few hours, I believe are already in route, if not in place. I don't know that they'd be in place quite yet. It's very, very early here, but that the community needs it. the fabric of the community has been torn and it's going to take a very concerted effort by everyone to repair that tear.

It's going to be an awful day for that community. It'll be a tough day for yourself. What are you doing today? You're on the road, I believe. I am. I'm on my way to Tumblr. As I say, when I found out, I was in Victoria. And I will

I'll actually give a little anecdote. I didn't catch the lady's name, but the lady that sat beside me on the flight from Victoria to Vancouver last night was a wonderful human being that I needed. She sensed something was wrong. She recognized who I was.

And she made a very significant contribution to my mental health. And if she's listening, I would like to thank her, and I wish that I had caught her name. but I think she was a very unique individual, a very beautiful human being that was in the right place at the right time and I'm very thankful that I met her.

Well, let that be a lesson to us all on a day like today, right? We all just, even, I'm in Toronto and I feel like I need to be there for the community and for everyone, so just kind of looking out for one another, right? Absolutely, and I've said this to many. I would challenge you to spend more than 48 hours, hours in Tumblr Ridge and not absolutely fall in love with the community, fall in love with people. It's impossible to describe without experiencing it. It is a jewel and it is something that

the people are a very large component of what make it that jewel. And there's no words to describe how this has damaged them. I can't, I can't describe it. Well, Larry, we'll let you get back up up on the road and maybe connecting with you later. Appreciate making time this morning. Thanks so much. Larry Newfield is the MLA for Peace River South. Now, the community of Tumblr has just been through the worst kind of trauma. Parents across the country are waking up to this news this morning with a million questions

about how to talk to each other, how to talk to their children about what went on. Dr. Shimi Kang is a psychiatrist with future ready minds and a clinical associate professor at UBC. she's in Vancouver. Hello, Dr. Kang. Hi, Peter. As a psychiatrist who works with children, what was your initial reaction when you heard that these shootings had happened?

Oh, goodness. I'm also a mom of three, and my heart just ached. You know, as I heard the news for these families, for the wounded, for the community, you know, it really is unspeakable, and then the trauma really was compounded with, you know, the news and then to be sheltered in place when you, which is the right thing to do, but when your instinct is to, you know, run out a couple blocks and it's a small community and find your child or loved one. So it really is a traumatic, heartbreaking situation that has occurred there. And I think the whole country is,

feeling it. When trauma like this is is so fresh in a community, what do you think the people in that town, in that community, what do they need today? Well, I was listening to the mayor and the MLA and I feel that, you know, a bit of reassurance when the mayor said it is a large family. And I think that on one hand, you know, that can compound the grief when your family members, when you know all the people who have deceased or wounded, of course, that's going to compound the grief. But on the other hand, it will help with the grieving and the healing when there is such a strong connection. We are social beings. We are bonded. Our brains thrive and heal in bonded environments.

And so listening to that, I felt that that is a real protective factor for this community. But they're going to need a lot of help in many, many different layers. You know, I was watching this unfold on television last night, watching Ian Hannah Mansing and Gloria Mcoranco cover the breaking part of this. And my kids were walking into the room and asking what was going on. And they follow the news. I work in the news business. My wife does as well.

And I struggled with this one. How do we explain to kids in particular what happened? Right, yeah. So there's three principles. And we apply them differently based on the age. So we can go through each one, if you like. But the three principles are truth, compassion, and optimism. So as you said, kids know what's going on. We can't sugarcoat it. And information provides a sense of security. So I always tell parents to ask the child what they've already heard because we are in an age of misinformation and clickbaits and sensationalization. So starting by asking, what do you know, what have you heard, validating any correct information and answering their questions.

because they may not want to know too much, but they want to know some. So really keeping it open-ended and being there with them but being truthful. The compassion is really important for everyone involved. Obviously, those who lost their lives, their families, the wounded, the police, the healthcare workers, the RCP, and focusing on the helpers and the swiftness of the response. the coming together as a community in that compassionate way. And statements of compassion to that young child that, well, at least what matters now is your safe word together.

They definitely need that. Younger children need to hear that. And they need to know their adults, their protectors are close to them in physical proximity. Kind of mid-school children, they want to hear about safety. in the community, that there's no current threat. They'll have questions in that regard. And then older children will want to do something.

They're going to, you know, like you said, they're going to want to light a candle. They're going to want to write letters. They're going to want to reach out to people they know. So advocacy is really important. And then ending on optimism is that a sense that we will recover, we are coming together, the supports are here. We will get through this and we will get through it together. So it's truth, compassion, optimism.

That is the best way to talk to young people and anyone in a situation like this. Yeah, I was going to say, I could use that not just with my kids, but with, you know, my peers and colleagues. I know there will be parents in the car right now, either having just dropped or about to drop their kids at school. and they'll be thinking about what happened in the secondary school at Tumblr Ridge yesterday. What is your advice to them? Yes, absolutely. So very similar in the same way, asking a child what they've heard, what questions they have, reassuring them that there's no such incident happening in their school.

Sometimes kids will ask, is my school safe? And so reassuring them, providing that sense of safety. Now, the adult, the parent might be like, how do I know? You know, nobody knew yesterday at Tumblr Ridge what was going to happen. And there's this anxiety. But it's very important as parents for us to have that sense of security to keep that optimistic mind and pass that down. And even though there may be some doubt saying, well, we don't know for sure,

it's a concept called where focus goes, neurons grow. It's a cliche, but focusing on the positive aspect. of that moment, of that day, of that community. That's where we want to lead our children. That's where we want to lead their brain, where focus goes, neurons grow, that positive, what's going well in their day and in their life at that time.

You know, we heard from the Premier last night, we heard from the local MLA just before you and the mayor before him. And you get the sense that overnight, they're just throwing everything, every available resource is flooding up into Northeastern British Columbia to help. As the days go on, what specifically, what are the kinds of supports that the children in Tumblr Ridge are going to need?

Yes. So when we look at the stages of grief, there's several stages. They're not linear. They're not one at a time. And they can happen all at once. And they can take a few days. It could take months, maybe even years for some of these individuals to recover. But the stages are initial shock or denial. And I'm sure. sure people are in that currently just disbelief, waking up, feeling that maybe yesterday was a nightmare. So shop denial, anger is a normal part of the grief process, depression, feelings, the feelings of loss, low motivation, sadness. And then eventually we get to acceptance. So, you know, really understanding that those are normal stages and having supports available throughout all of those. Professional supports are very important for all the different professions and mental health supports for the community and children.

But I don't want to under-emphasize how important the family connectedness, the community itself is in this healing process. All right. Really good, really actionable advice. So I appreciate that. Dr. Shimi Kang for joining us today. Thank you. Dr. Jimmy Kang, a psychiatrist with the future ready minds and a clinical associate at an associate professor at UBC. You've been listening to the current podcast. My name is Matt Galloway. Thanks for listening. I'll talk to you soon.

For more CBC podcasts, go to cbc.ca slash podcasts.