The Decibel - On the ground in Tumbler Ridge, after the mass shooting

Episode Date: February 12, 2026

Tuesday’s deadly mass shooting in the community of Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, marks the second deadliest school shooting in Canadian history. Nine people are dead, including the shooter, and at least 25 others are injured.Many details are still unknown, but today, we’re talking about the aftermath of the tragedy. Globe reporters Matthew Scace and Alanna Smith give us the view from Tumbler Ridge, and you’ll hear from community members about how they’re making sense of what has happened in their town.Questions? Comments? Ideas? Email us at [e-mail] Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

I'll probably be waking up crying for mornings here because I know all these kids. We literally watch these kids grow up since they're freaking first time in preschool here. First breath for a lot of them. Dennis Campbell lives in Tumblr Ridge, British Columbia. He has three children. Two of them attend Tumblr Ridge Secondary School. On February 10th at approximately 1.20 p.m. civic standard time at Tumblr Ridge, RCP received a report of an active shooter at Tumblr Ridge Secondary School.

The school went into lockdown. Kids and teachers barricaded themselves into classrooms. When officers arrived on the scene, gunshots were fired in their direction. Nine people were killed during the attack, including the shooter, making this one of Canada's deadliest mass shootings. What happened in Tumblr Ridge is unimaginable, and there are still so many questions that are hard to answer, especially as the community grieves. The Globe sent four reporters to the remote D.C. community, and dozens of others worked across the country, to piece together what happened, and to learn about the victims. Today, we bring you into the aftermath of the tragedy. I'm Cheryl Sutherland, and this is the decibel. from the Globe and Mail. It's eerily quiet in the community of Tumblr Ridge on Wednesday morning

as folks wake up after tragedy unfolded on Tuesday night. Elena Smith is one of the reporters that the Globe sent to Tumblr Ridge. It's so quiet that you can hear really nothing more than these strong gusts of wind in the community. The wind is so strong that it's sending flags that have been lowered to half-mast, flapping in the wind. And there's just a few people here and there walking their dog, going to the community center. There's also a local shop that's offering free desserts and coffee to residents that show up. At the school where the shooting occurred, there's yellow police tape, orange barriers, and police vehicles blocking any access onto the school grounds.

There's also still RCMP officers stationed at the school. Just as stones throw away from that, just a couple of steps, there's the community health center. This is where many of those that were injured on Tuesday night but didn't have life-threatening conditions are seeking treatment. There's security guards at that community health center, but there's been few people going in or out. That's kind of what the entire community looks like right now. It's quiet. There's not a lot going on. I'm sure people are still processing just everything that happened last night.

Dennis Campbell, who we heard from earlier, is one of the parents processing what? what happened on Tuesday. Well, it's pretty wild right now. This morning we both got up when we're looking at stuff and he just want to start crying about the kids that know we all know that aren't going to be here anymore.

And that's every one of them that we've watched grow up in this community. His 12-year-old daughter Quinn and his 15-year-old son, Seth, were in the school when shots rang out. my daughter phoned us at 218. She phoned me at 218 and said, Dad, there's gunshots in the school,

there's gunshots in the school. And then her teacher says right away, well, just wait, clean, it might be a hammer. It might be a hammer. And then the phone went dead. And then wasn't a minute later, hey, Bev? She's freaking text us. And she confirmed that there were shots fired.

She's so scared. She's so scared. She's in the equipment room. and the gym. And she was just in the bathroom just minutes before this happened with some other girls that were trapped in there. And when the shots started fire going off,

Quinn perked up, I guess, we'll say, and went to the gym, and then she went with the grade 10 and 11 class and hid in the equipment room. When Dennis got the call from his daughter, Quinn, he and his family acted quickly. Me and my wife and my oldest son We're up and out of this house within two minutes,

and we were down at that school wondering what the, like, we were losing our shit, right? But Dennis couldn't get to the school itself. It was already a police scene. I was just standing there crying, looking at the school, wondering where my freaking son is and if he was okay, and what the hell is going on here and why this is happening. Eventually, Quinn and Seth made it out safely

and found their parents and older brother. Well, that was the biggest relief of my life to see my kids. Doc should physically touch my kids to see them. It was one of the biggest relieves of my life. But some parents didn't get that relief. People gathered in the hockey arena, trying to find missing loved ones. Local pastor, Reverend Gerald Krause, was among them. I spent all of my time with my wife, who was also a pastor,

and all of the children and all of the parents. And we were all gathered together at the hockey arena. And some parents were finding their children, and some were not. Everyone was still in shock the next morning, according to Dennis and Reverend Krause. I know like every frequent parent that I talk to, we have a cry about it. None of us have ever done this before. None of the police force, no one has ever gone through this before. It's a very tragic situation in Tumblr Ridge.

By Wednesday, a memorial had formed outside the school. Globe reporter Matthew Skace was there. I'm standing outside of the school where the shooting happened yesterday. There's a large perimeter with yellow tape right now. that we're obviously not allowed to pass. Over by a tree in the corner, there's a smattering of flowers and children's toys and stuffed animals that have been put down by the tree. He also visited other locations. I was down to the library this morning, and there were only a handful of people there.

The ones that were there were crying, holding each other, sitting in silence. There's just a real palpable feeling of grief in Tumblridge right now. Everyone is wearing the weight of what happened yesterday. The grocery store is right across the road from the library, and people are also hugging each other in public, crying. Some of the people I talked to just had tears in their eyes and didn't know what to make fit. They had this dazed look about them.

For almost 24 hours after the attack, A lot remained unknown, including who the shooter was. Until midday Wednesday, when RCMP Deputy Commissioner Dwayne McDonald delivered a press conference. The suspect has been identified as 18-year-old Jesse Van Routselaer, who is a resident of Tumblr Ridge. Two firearms. A long gun and a modified handgun were recovered by responding officers. I can say that Jesse was born as a biological male, who approximately, in the infarctuary, that I have, approximately six years ago began to transition to female and identified as female, both socially and publicly. Police wouldn't speculate on the motive, and Deputy Commissioner

McDonald wouldn't speak about the ownership of the guns used in the attack. There's been much speculation within the community regarding the relationship between the shooter and some of the victims. All of that remains part of the active and ongoing investigation. We are not in a position to publicly confirm any specifics at this time. We understand the community has questions, and we understand they want to know the motive behind this tragic incident. We do believe the suspect acted alone, and there are currently no other outstanding suspects. We also learned that six victims were killed at the school, including a 39-year-old female educator, three 12-year-old female students, and two male students, ages 12 and 13.

Deputy Commissioner McDonald confirmed that the two victims found dead in a home were the suspect's mother and stepbrother. He added that police had been at the family home before. Police had attended that residence on multiple occasions over the past several years dealing with concerns of mental health with respect to our suspect.

I can say that on different occasions as a suspect was apprehended for assessment and follow-up. Police confirmed that there were guns in the home and that the shooter had an expired firearms license. No guns were registered to her, and police do not know how she gained access to the firearms. They added that on a previous visit,

police had seized guns from the home and that they had been returned to the household about a month ago. The Globe confirmed that less than three years ago, the shooter set fire to a bed inside our family's home after ingesting mushrooms. People who knew the family said it was a turbulent time and that the shooter was taken for psychiatric treatment. During the press conference,

Deputy Commissioner McDonald also provided a brief update on the 25 people who had not been fatally injured in the attack. So of the 25 surviving individuals, the two that are currently airlifted, the majority of the rest, there were not gunshot injuries. The reason they were all examined in triage in first instances, there were a lot that presented with injury, blood, etc.,

that weren't actually injured, but we had to work through all that. Dennis Campbell's daughter Quinn knew some of the victims. My daughter's 12 and she lost a bunch of her friends yesterday. One of her friends is a 12-year-old girl named Maya Gabala, who was shot and is in critical but stable condition in a hospital in Vancouver. She was honestly talking to one of them, my other one of them, Maya, the one that's in Vancouver Hospital right now, clinging

to life. And the last thing she said to her was I hate math class and Maya didn't respond and then a minute later she heard gunshots and Maya never responded again.

I know one of our hockey girls is what was really tragic. She's clinging to her life and she's, oh my daughter, She's hockey team, yes. She's such a sweetheart of a girl. We always love this kid so much.

She tries so hard. We all love her to death. This just kills us. My baby can't stop crying. And I can't. Every time I think about it, I tear up, I well up. I can't stop it. There's no way of stopping this right now, and it's killing us all. We'll be right back.

Tumblr Ridge is a small, remote town in British Columbia, surrounded by mountains. About 2,400 people live there. We come together a lot because we're a good hockey little hockey community. We bring the freaking fans to our arena, and a lot of these people come out and cheer on these kids that are freaking not going to be here anymore. The mountains and valleys of this area have been home to indigenous peoples for at least 10,000. thousand years. But the town of Tumblr Ridge is relatively new. It was established 45 years ago to capitalize on the nearby coal in the ground. The province calls Tumblr Ridge B.C.'s last, quote, instant town, because it was set up quickly to accommodate the resource workers

for the new mines. But officials wanted people to settle their long term, even after the energy boom times were over. And that has happened. Here's how Dennis describes his town. Come the region, a little beautiful community. There's so many beautiful things to see out here. There's falls everywhere. We've got the biggest set of falls in Canada. We've got a geo-park here. It's beautiful scenery everywhere you look.

But beyond the natural splendor, there's a town of people who play hockey together, go to church together, and look after each other. Most of our kids play with each other. My kids never even have to come home. I don't even lock my doors that night. I don't need to. A lot of the kids that come over, they don't even knock to come in. They just come in because that's so friendly we are to kids around here.

We don't need a community watch because every door in our circuit community is open to any child. And that's the way it should always be. Here's Reverend Gerald Krause again. These are my people. This is what we do. We're here for our community, whether, you know, people come to us. our church or not. It's not about that. It's just about loving the families, the children. We know everybody. And, you know, it's something that's happened to us, and we have to go through it,

and we'll go through it together. Across the country, in Ottawa, flags were lowered to half-mast, and Prime Minister Mark Carney was visibly choked up about the tragedy. Well, I'd say it's a, a very difficult day for the nation this morning. Parents, grandparents, sisters, brothers in Tumblr Ridge will wake up without someone they love. And later, after a moment of silence, the Prime Minister rose in the House of Commons to pay tribute to the people of Tumblr Ridge. It's a town of miners, teachers, construction workers, families who have built their lives there, people who have always shown up for each other there. When wildfires raged, neighbors helped each other pack up and move out of harm's way.

They shared leads for jobs, and they lifted each other up. Mr. Speaker, Tumblr Ridge represents the very best of Canada, resilient, compassionate, and strong. The Prime Minister noted that the name of Tumblr Ridge will join the ranks of other Canadian communities that have had to endure unthinkable tragedies. We have been here before. Ecole Polytechnique in Montreal. The Islamic Cultural Center of Quebec City. La Lash, Saskatchewan. Humboldt, Saskatchewan.

Potipik, Nova Scotia. Each time, it breaks them. open. Each time, Canadians show who we are. Mr. Speaker, in the days ahead, there'll be important questions to ask, difficult conversations to have. We owe that to the victims and their families. But now, it's time for grieving and remembrance. B.C. Premier David E.B., also called on the country to come to the support of Tumblr Ridge. take this opportunity to ask British Columbians, to ask all

Canadians to wrap the people of Tumblr Ridge, wrap these families with love. Not just tonight, but tomorrow and into the future. Late Wednesday, Tumblr Ridge held a vigil for the town.

Reporter Elena Smith was there. There are hundreds of people that came here tonight. It was sort of like an open mic type of vigil. Members of the community went up in no particular order. They shared all sorts of things. Their fears, their hopes that the community can move on from this. Their thank yous to first responders, to RCMP, to teachers, to everybody in the school, healthcare providers. There were a lot of crying, lots of tears. People were hugging,

consoling each other. Thrill out a lot of the speeches they're saying to just check in on each other. Make sure you're doing okay and just, you know, be a community and come together in times like this. February 12th has been declared a day of morning in British Columbia. And now the community is left trying to make sense of what's happened as best as they can. I don't know if you can make sense of it. I wouldn't even try. I know all of the people that are involved in it, and I know all of the parents that are involved in it. And it's a difficult time and a difficult place to be in our community.

This isn't who we are. That's Reverend Gerald Krause again. We're a small town that's had a big tragedy. So just to support us in whatever way you can, pray for our community. Such a learning process for everybody right now. It's not even fair to anybody. We have to do it, let alone these kids that we have to deal with now. Every kid in that school is probably going to have to have.

to go to counseling over and there's not even 170 kids in there. You lose six of them. That's basically one percent of the population we just lost out of that school. I can't even express the way I feel right now. There's just so many mixed emotions going on right now. I'm going to take an hour by hour by minute by minute. We'll see what happens around here.

That's it for today. I'm Cheryl Sutherland. Our producers are Madeline White Rachel Levy McLaughlin and Mikhail Stein. Our editor is David Crosby. Adrian Chung is our senior producer, and Angela Pichenza is our executive editor. Thanks so much for listening and take care.