Calls grow for Tumbler Ridge public inquiry as 2 B.C. MPs say answers needed

Calls for an independent investigation into the shooting in Tumbler Ridge, B.C., where eight people, including six children were shot last month, are growing.

Federal Conservative MP Bob Zimmer, who represents the community in northeastern B.C., said the mourning families need answers around various aspects, including the shooter’s mental health and access to guns, as well as the role of artificial intelligence and the protection of the victims’ families.

“What do you say to a Mom who lost her daughter or to a Dad who lost his son?” Zimmer said in a statement. “We need answers for those Moms and Dads.”

That is why it is time for an independent public inquiry, said Zimmer’s Conservative caucus colleague Frank Caputo, who is also his party’s shadow minister for public safety, at a joint press conference with Zimmer in Vancouver.

The two Conservative MPs said the inquiry should be done under the federal Inquires Act.

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Their call echoes an earlier appeal from B.C. Conservative Party MLA Larry Neufeld, who said that it is time for the province to establish a public inquiry under provincial law.

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Neufeld, who represents Tumbler Ridge in the provincial legislature, said that members of the community and grieving families keep coming back to the same question, of how this incident could have happened in the first place.

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“They deserve honest answers,” Neufeld said. “A public inquiry is how we get the full truth, with witnesses compelled, documents produced, and evidence tested in public.”

B.C. Premier David Eby has said in the legislature that his government will use “any tools available” to make sure all questions about this “tragedy” are answered, whether it be through a coroner’s inquest or a public inquiry after the police has wrapped up its investigation.

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When Neufeld pressed Eby for a more precise timeline, the premier said that a public inquiry could not start until police had wrapped the investigation.

Eby said any public inquiry or inquest would take place after that.

When Caputo was asked about changing the focus of his proposed inquiry on the mental health of children and youth in Canada against the backdrop of a potential provincial inquiry, he said he was open to the possibility.

“At the end of the day, we want to get to the bottom of what happened to provide answers, to provide healing, and to provide prevention for this happening in the future,” he said.

On Feb. 10, Jesse Van Rootselaar, 18, shot and killed her mother and half-brother at their home in Tumbler Ridge before going to the school and killing six people and then herself.

Students, meanwhile, are readying themselves for the week ahead.

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A message to parents posted on the Peace River South school district website says all students attending Tumbler Ridge Elementary will return to their regular schedule, starting Monday after learning had resumed Thursday and Friday with shortened days.

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The same message also says students attending the secondary school will learn from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. starting Monday under a “tentative plan” that “may change based on needs.”

Learning will take place in portables, which the province had sent up in mid-February, and the district says on its website that counsellors will support staff and students in the safe transition to the new buildings.

It adds that counsellors will continue to be available at the new school site, with counselling and trauma supports also available at Tumbler Ridge Community Centre.

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The school has also hired a security service to patrol the perimeter around the entire school campus, adding that cameras will provide additional security and that RCMP have conducted a security review of the area.

The mother of 12-year-old Maya Gebala, who was critically injured during the shooting and continues to receive treatment at BC Children’s Hospital in Vancouver, posted a social media update on Saturday.

“She seems focused on one of her favourite shows,” Cia Edmonds wrote. “(It’s) nice to see a part of her coming through in such a way. This show was a ritual at bedtime for her.”

The note concluded with an addendum. “(Maya’s) nightly show of choice is Henry Danger. (It’s) about a teenage superhero.”

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