OTTOWA: 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.
Carney, other leaders to mourn victims at site of Canada mass shooting
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Carney, other leaders to mourn victims at site of Canada mass shooting
- The mass shooting was one of the worst in Canadian history
Locals in Niger say ‘terrorists’ killed 25 near Mali
- “Twenty-five self-defense militia fell on Thursday in terrorist ambushes,” a former mayor said
- The surrounding Tillaberi region is an area of operations of the Sahel branch of the Daesh militant group
ABIDJAN: Local sources in western Niger said “terrorists” killed 25 members of a militia in several villages near the Mali border.
“Twenty-five self-defense militia fell on Thursday in terrorist ambushes,” a former mayor in the commune of Anzourou told AFP — a toll confirmed by a leader from a local civil association.
“There were 25 young self-defense fighters who lost their lives and three others who were wounded and evacuated” to hospitals in Tillaberi town and Niamey, the latter source said.
The surrounding Tillaberi region is an area of operations of the Sahel branch of the Daesh militant group.
Conflict-monitoring NGO ACLED said that in 2025 Tillaberi became the deadliest region in the central Sahel, with more than 1,200 deaths recorded.
It blamed the violence mainly on the Daesh in the Sahel group, followed by the Nigerien army and the Al-Qaeda-linked Group to Support Islam and Muslims (JNIM).
The association source said the victims came from four neighboring villages — Doukou Makani, Doukou Djinde, Doukou Saraou and Doukou Koirategui.
The Anzourou district is made up of around 50 villages and hamlets in Tillaberi, which borders near the area between Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali, long the scene of deadly militant attacks.
Niger has been run by a military junta since a coup in July 2023.
For the last decade, the country has been blighted by deadly militant attacks. Since the beginning of the year, there have been nearly 2,000 deaths, according to ACLED.
With the Nigerien army struggling to contain the attacks, it has tolerated the creation of self-defense militias by villagers, leading to bloody clashes with militants.
In December last year, the military regime in Niamey announced a “general mobilization” and the “requisition” of people and property to better fight the Islamists.
Niger has created a 6,000-strong joint force with Mali and Burkina Faso, countries also run by the military and facing militant violence.
