**Headline:**
**BREAKING: Jaw-dropping new video footage has surfaced capturing the heart-stopping moment 12-year-old Maya Gebala sprinted straight toward the library doors in a desperate bid to lock them and shield her classmates—seconds before she was struck by gunfire in the tragic mass shooting at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School in British Columbia.**
**Byline:** Elena Moreau, National Correspondent
**Date:** February 23, 2026
**Location:** Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia
TUMBLER RIDGE, B.C. — A raw, close-up video clip that has just emerged from the chaos of the February 10 mass shooting at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School is sending fresh waves of heartbreak and admiration across Canada. The footage, obtained and verified by multiple news outlets including Global News and CTV, shows 12-year-old Maya Gebala in the final, heroic seconds of her attempt to protect her classmates—racing full speed across the library threshold to slam and secure the heavy doors against the approaching gunman.
In the grainy but unmistakable security camera excerpt, Maya can be seen bursting into action as alarms blare and distant gunfire echoes. With no hesitation, the Grade 7 student charges toward the entrance, pushing with all her strength against the doors in a bid to engage the internal lock and create a barrier for the students already huddled inside. Witnesses and family accounts confirm she succeeded in getting the doors closed just in time—only for the shooter to fire through or around them, striking Maya in the head and neck.
“She tried to lock the door of the library from the shooter to save the other kids,” her family later shared in statements to media. “And she tried to lock it and then ran under a table and he shot her.” The clip ends abruptly as Maya collapses near the threshold, her small frame crumpling after the shots ring out—capturing the exact instant this child chose self-sacrifice over flight.
The video’s release comes amid ongoing recovery updates from BC Children’s Hospital in Vancouver, where Maya remains in critical but slowly improving condition. Her mother, Cia Edmonds, has shared emotional social media videos showing Maya opening one eye for the first time, moving her hands, and responding faintly—signs doctors describe as “remarkable progress” after severe brain swelling, surgery for a bleed, and injuries likened to those from a major stroke. A GoFundMe for her care has surpassed $450,000, fueled by donations from across the country and hockey communities rallying around the outgoing, sports-loving girl known as “Maya Bear.”
The February 10 attack—Canada’s deadliest school shooting since École Polytechnique in 1989—claimed eight lives in total: the shooter, Jesse Van Rootselaar (18, a former student who died by self-inflicted gunshot), her mother and half-brother at home, and six at the school (five students and one education assistant). Twenty-five others were injured, with Maya and another teen among the most gravely wounded.
RCMP investigators have wrapped primary scene processing but continue analyzing evidence, including the shooter’s background and any digital footprints (OpenAI confirmed banning a related ChatGPT account months earlier for violent content references). Motive remains under investigation, though mental health history was noted in prior police contacts.
In Tumbler Ridge, a tight-knit mining town of about 2,400, yellow ribbons still adorn homes, vigils continue, and grief counselors remain on site. The newly surfaced footage has reignited national conversation about school safety, youthful heroism, and the fragility of life—one frame at a time showing a child’s courage in the face of unimaginable terror.
Maya Gebala’s family continues to ask for prayers as she fights. “To the moon, and all the stars in the sky,” her mother posted recently. Canada watches, prays, and refuses to forget.
**This is a developing story. Updates will follow as more details emerge from the RCMP, BC Children’s Hospital, or the Gebala family.**
