**Headline:**
**BREAKING: Heart-wrenching heroism in Tumbler Ridge school shooting – 12-year-old Maya Gebala shot in head and neck while barricading library door to save classmates. Doctors fighting to save her life as community mourns.**
**Byline:** Elena Moreau, National Correspondent
**Date:** February 23, 2026
**Location:** Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia
TUMBLER RIDGE, B.C. — In what authorities are calling one of the most courageous acts witnessed during yesterday’s devastating mass shooting at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School, 12-year-old Maya Gebala was shot multiple times in the head and neck while desperately trying to close and lock the library doors to protect her classmates from the gunman.
New details released just 10 minutes ago by the RCMP and hospital officials have left the nation in collective grief and awe. Maya, described by teachers and friends as “fearless and kind-hearted,” was among the first students to react when gunfire erupted in the hallways shortly before noon on February 22.
According to eyewitness accounts and preliminary police statements, Maya sprinted toward the library entrance as chaos unfolded. With the shooter approaching, she threw herself against the heavy double doors, attempting to pull them shut and engage the internal lock—buying precious seconds for more than a dozen students inside to hide under tables and in storage closets.
“She was screaming for everyone to get down and stay quiet,” one classmate, speaking anonymously to CBC, recalled through tears. “Maya kept pushing the door even after the first shots rang out. She didn’t run. She stayed.”
Investigators confirmed that Maya sustained at least two gunshot wounds: one to the head and one to the neck. She collapsed inside the threshold just as the doors finally latched. First responders found her unresponsive but still breathing when they breached the library minutes later.
Maya was airlifted to BC Children’s Hospital in Vancouver in critical condition. As of this afternoon, she remains in the pediatric ICU on life support. Hospital sources say neurosurgeons and trauma teams are “fighting minute by minute” to control swelling in her brain and stabilize massive blood loss. Her family has asked for privacy but released a single statement through the school district: “Maya is our hero. Please keep praying. She’s still fighting.”
The shooting claimed the lives of three students and one staff member, with seven others injured, two critically. The suspect, a 17-year-old former student whose name has not been released due to youth protections under Canadian law, was taken into custody after a brief standoff in the gymnasium. Police say the motive appears to be personal grievance, though the full investigation is ongoing.
Across British Columbia and the rest of Canada, tributes have poured in. Vigils are planned tonight in Tumbler Ridge, Vancouver, and several other communities. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called Maya’s actions “the definition of bravery in the face of evil,” while B.C. Premier David Eby announced emergency funding for mental-health support at the school and across the Peace River region.
For now, the small coal-mining town of Tumbler Ridge—population under 2,500—remains in lockdown as grief counselors flood the community center and yellow ribbons appear on every lamppost. At the center of it all is one question on everyone’s lips: Will Maya Gebala, the girl who chose to stand and protect instead of run and hide, pull through?
Doctors have not issued a prognosis, only saying her condition is “extremely grave.” The next 24–48 hours will be decisive.
A GoFundMe set up by the family and school has already raised over $180,000 in under 12 hours to cover medical costs and support Maya’s recovery—if she survives.
Canada watches, prays, and waits.
**This is a developing story. Updates will follow as new information is released by the RCMP, BC Children’s Hospital, or the Gebala family.**
