A woman places flowers at a makeshift memorial for the victims of a deadly mass shooting in Tumbler Ridge, B.C., on Feb. 12, 2026, two days after the tragedy took place at a school in the northeastern B.C. town. Reuters/Jennifer Gauthier
B.C. Premier David Eby described heroic acts by students and teacher Mark Deeley during the deadly school shooting in Tumbler Ridge, as he spoke during a Feb. 13 vigil for the victims of the shooting.
Eby said he spoke with Deeley, Deeley’s son, and two students in Deeley’s science class who wanted him to share some “pieces of their day.”
“They believe that in the darkness and the horror of that day, are also, in the response of the students in that class, the seeds of what will ensure Tumbler Ridge’s recovery, ultimately, from this horrific moment that we’re in,” Eby said while speaking at the vigil.
He said when Deeley heard gunshots at the school, he used a chair to block the door of his classroom and called his wife, who is the school principal, to tell her there was a shooter in the school. “Mrs. Deeley called the police. The police were there in two minutes. We know that heroic story,” Eby said.
The premier added that Deeley knew how to respond because he and the other teachers, along with the students, had practised for this type of incident, though “never imagining they would need those skills.”
Deeley locked the door to his classroom and blocked it with a chair, even though his son had just left the classroom to go to the washroom right before hearing the gunshots, the premier said.
“He made the decision to lock and block the door with his son outside the classroom to keep the children safe in his science class—the children that he had promised parents he would do everything to protect,” Eby said. “That’s the kind of guy Mr. Deeley is, and that’s the kind of decisions that were made on that day.”
Inside the classroom, older students comforted younger ones by offering snacks and telling jokes, to “keep things light,” distract the younger students from what was happening outside the classroom, and make them feel safe, he added.
Deeley saw a critically injured student in the hallway and brought the child into his classroom, where Deeley and two students administered first aid to the child.
“I hope I’m never called on to do what they had to do,” Eby said. “But having spent a couple days here now in Tumbler Ridge, I can tell you that what they did is emblematic of this town.”
“In those heroic actions are the seeds of the recovery of this community,” he added.
Eby commended the people of the community for their courage in the face of the tragedy, saying “things are going to be different, but there are going to be things that are familiar, and one of those things is the courage and the bravery, and the amazing kids, the students, the young adults, the people of Tumbler Ridge.”
Prime Minister Mark Carney also attended the vigil, along with politicians of all stripes, to remember the eight people who were killed during the Feb. 10 shooting at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School.
Carney offered condolences and support to the Tumbler Ridge community on behalf of all of the federal parties, and also praised the community for coming together during this time of great loss.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre also spoke at the vigil, saying that everyone is sharing in the grief. Governor General Mary Simon, Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet, NDP Interim Leader Don Davies, and Green Party Leader Elizabeth May also joined the vigil.
The Feb. 10 shooting at the town’s secondary school and at a residence left 27 people injured and nine people dead, the latter including the shooter, who police say died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
The victims include five students aged 12 to 13, one educator, as well as the shooter’s mother and half-brother. Two of those injured were airlifted to hospital, with one in critical condition.
Zoey Benoit, 12; Kylie Smith, 12; Ticaria Lampert, 12,;Abel Mwansa Jr., 12; Ezekiel Schofield, 13; and educator Shannda Aviugana-Durand, 39, were killed at the school. Emmett Jacobs, 11, who was the shooter’s half-brother, and Jennifer Jacobs, 39, who was the shooter’s mother, were killed at their home.
The RCMP said they are still investigating a possible motive for the shooting, which they have said wasn’t targeted but was a “random” attack. They also said they are investigating the ownership and origin of the weapons they say Jesse Van Rootselaar, 18, used to carry out the massacre. Police say Van Rootselaar, who was born a male and began transitioning to female about six years ago, had a history of mental illness.
Paul Rowan Brian and The Canadian Press contributed to this report.