By David Ljunggren
OTTAWA, Feb 13 (Reuters) – Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and opposition leaders will attend a vigil in the remote town of Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, on Friday to pay respects to the victims of one of the country’s worst mass shootings.
Carney, a Liberal, will be joined by Conservative chief Pierre Poilievre and Yves-Francois Blanchet, the head of the third-largest party, the Bloc Quebecois, as they set aside their differences to mourn the eight victims of Tuesday’s shooting.
Jesse Van Rootselaar, 18, who had suffered a series of mental health problems, killed her mother and stepbrother before shooting a teacher and five young students at the school in Tumbler Ridge, a settlement of around 2,400 in the Canadian Rockies, according to police.
Van Rootselaar, who police say was born a male but began identifying as a woman six years ago, then died by suicide.
The mass shooting was one of the worst in Canadian history. The deadliest took place in April 2020 when a 51-year-old man shot and killed 22 people in Nova Scotia, before police shot him dead.
Few townspeople wanted to speak to media on Thursday and British Columbia police said families and friends of the victims had requested privacy.
Police on Thursday named the school victims as Abel Mwansa, 12, Ezekiel Schofield, 13, Kylie Smith, 12, Zoey Benoit, 12, Ticaria Lampert, 12 as well as teacher Shannda Aviugana-Durand, 39.
Van Rootselaar had first killed Jennifer Jacobs, her 39-year-old mother, and her stepbrother Emmett Jacobs, 11.
“Rest in paradise, sweet girl, our family will never be the same without you,” Smith’s family said in a statement released by police.
Police said on Wednesday they had at one point seized guns from the house where Van Rootselaar was living but returned them after the owner, who they did not identify, successfully appealed the decision.
(Writing by David Ljunggren and Costas PitasEditing by Rod Nickel)
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