The entire town of Tumbler Ridge was built by the B.C. government in the 1980s to service nearby coal mines. Now the young community is forever marked by tragedy.
The stories shared by teenaged survivors, and family members of the dead, reveal a diverse group of kids who loved sports and art and their friends – no different from any school in B.C.
And like every place in our province, Tumbler Ridge was also home to someone in serious mental distress, with access to weapons, and unlimited vile content online.
Nothing can justify the 18-year-old shooter’s murderous rampage. But Jesse can’t be brought to justice. And so we are left to ask: how can we stop this from happening again?
This is the second deadly massacre in B.C. in less than a year. The person accused of ramming a car into the crowd at the Lapu Lapu festival in Vancouver will begin his trial on Tuesday.
We’ll learn more soon about Adam Kai-Ji Lo’s interactions with the province’s mental health system and police. A future inquest in Tumbler Ridge will no doubt look at similar themes.
Without drawing too broad a pattern from these two incidents, it’s fair to say our mental health crisis is getting worse, and the consequences of inaction are unacceptable.
Rather than normalize these eruptions of extreme violence, we can work to prevent them through community care, policy changes and public investment in social supports and infrastructure.
In the meantime we grieve and pray for the families in Tumbler Ridge. And for those with young people or teachers in our lives, I hope this weekend offers the chance to hold them close.
