Twelve-year-old Maya Edmonds clings to life in a Vancouver hospital bed, her small body hooked to machines that beep relentlessly, fighting the invisible war raging inside her skull and throat. A bullet lodged above her left eye has caused a devastating brain bleed. Another remains embedded in her neck, its path still uncertain. Doctors performed emergency surgery on February 11 to stem the bleeding, but Maya’s condition remains extreme critical. Her mother, Cia Edmonds, posted on Facebook and a verified GoFundMe page: “Our baby needs a miracle. She is fighting for her life while they try to repair the damage.” Maya’s aunt, Krysta Hunt, told Global News the family is shattered. “She is only 12 years old and fresh into high school. This shouldn’t be happening.”
Maya was one of the first to react when gunfire erupted inside Tumbler Ridge Secondary School’s library on February 10, 2026. Witnesses say she ran to the heavy wooden door and tried desperately to lock it, buying precious seconds for her classmates to hide. That act of raw courage may have saved lives. It cost her everything else. Two bullets tore through her young body before the shooter moved on. Maya was airlifted 1,200 kilometres from the remote Rocky Mountain town to BC Children’s Hospital, where a full trauma team now battles to keep her alive.
The massacre that claimed her innocence began around 1:20 p.m. local time. Jesse Van Rootselaar, an 18-year-old former student who had dropped out four years earlier, first killed her own mother and 11-year-old stepbrother at their family home on the edge of town. She then drove the short distance to the school she once attended, dressed in a flowing dress, brown hair visible beneath a makeshift mask. Armed with a handgun, she entered the library where a Grade 8 class was quietly working and opened fire.
Five students died on the spot: three 12-year-old girls and two boys aged 12 and 13. Their teacher, a 39-year-old woman who had taught in Tumbler Ridge for over a decade, was also killed while trying to shield students. Another victim succumbed en route to hospital, bringing the school death toll to six. In total, nine people lost their lives including the shooter, who turned the gun on herself after police arrived. Approximately 25 others were wounded, some with life-changing injuries.
Tumbler Ridge, a former coal-mining town of just 2,400 people nestled in the foothills of the Rockies, had never imagined such horror. Founded in the 1980s as a planned community, it prides itself on tight-knit bonds, dinosaur fossil hunts in the Global Geopark, and families who still wave at every passing truck. On that Tuesday afternoon, the town’s single high school became the scene of Canada’s deadliest school shooting in decades.
RCMP Deputy Commissioner Dwayne McDonald named Jesse Van Rootselaar as the suspect on February 11. Police revealed she had prior mental-health contacts with authorities, though no criminal record. Her motive remains unknown, but investigators are examining online activity, family tensions, and possible grievances tied to her time at the school. The handgun used was legally purchased, a detail that has already reignited national debate over Canada’s gun laws.
In the hours after the shooting, parents rushed to the school in panic. One mother described the scene: “I saw children running out covered in blood. Teachers were carrying kids. It looked like a war zone.” A student who hid in a janitor’s closet texted his mother: “I love you. Tell my sister I’m sorry if I don’t make it.” Emergency alerts locked down the town for four hours. When the all-clear came at 5:45 p.m., the scale of the tragedy began to sink in.
Maya’s story has become the heartbreaking face of survival amid the loss. Her GoFundMe, launched by relatives within hours of the shooting, has raised tens of thousands of dollars in less than 48 hours. Cia Edmonds updated it late on February 11: “Maya is a fighter. She tried to protect her friends. Please keep praying. She still has a bullet in her neck and the doctors are monitoring for swelling in her brain.” Krysta Hunt added that Maya’s mother has not left her bedside. “She’s barely sleeping. She keeps whispering to Maya that she’s so proud of her for trying to lock that door.”
Doctors at BC Children’s Hospital have described Maya’s injuries as “catastrophic but not immediately fatal.” The bullet above her left eye penetrated the frontal lobe. Surgeons removed bone fragments and controlled the bleed, but infection and swelling remain the greatest threats. The neck wound avoided major arteries, a small mercy, yet the bullet’s position near the spine complicates any attempt at removal. “We are taking it hour by hour,” a hospital spokesperson said in a brief statement on February 12. “Maya is stable for now, but her condition is critical.”
The broader community response has been overwhelming. Vigils filled the town square on February 11 night, candles flickering against the cold mountain air. Residents brought flowers, teddy bears, and handwritten notes for the victims. One sign read simply: “Maya, we’re fighting with you.” Schools across British Columbia observed moments of silence. Premier David Eby flew to Tumbler Ridge on February 12 to meet families and promise provincial support, including funding for counselling and long-term recovery.
Nationally, the shooting has forced Canada to confront its own vulnerabilities. Mass shootings remain rare thanks to strict gun laws introduced after the 1989 École Polytechnique massacre. Yet incidents like the 2020 Nova Scotia rampage (22 dead) and now Tumbler Ridge show cracks in the system. Opposition parties have already called for a review of handgun access and mental-health resources in rural areas. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is expected to address the nation later this week.
For Maya’s family, the fight is deeply personal. Her father, who works in the local mining industry, has been at the hospital since she arrived. Cousins and aunts rotate shifts so someone is always holding Maya’s hand. “She loves drawing dinosaurs and playing soccer,” Krysta Hunt said. “Before all this, she was just a normal kid excited about Grade 8 dances and her first high-school basketball tryouts. Now we’re praying she wakes up to see another sunrise over the Rockies.”
Medical experts flown in from across Canada are consulting on Maya’s case. A paediatric neurosurgeon from Toronto arrived overnight. The next 72 hours will be critical. If swelling subsides and infection is controlled, doctors may attempt to address the neck bullet in a second surgery. Her family has been told to prepare for a long recovery: possible paralysis, cognitive challenges, years of rehabilitation. “But she’s alive,” Cia Edmonds wrote. “And as long as she’s fighting, we’re fighting right beside her.”
Back in Tumbler Ridge, the school remains a crime scene. Yellow tape flutters in the wind outside the library where so much was lost. Students who survived are scattered in safe houses, talking to trauma counsellors. One 13-year-old boy who escaped unharmed said in a whispered interview: “Maya saved us. She was the bravest person I’ve ever seen. If she doesn’t make it… I don’t know how we’re supposed to go on.”
The town’s economy, already fragile after the decline of coal, now faces an uncertain future. Tourism was beginning to rebound with the Geopark attracting visitors. Now, headlines scream tragedy instead of adventure. Yet locals insist the community’s spirit will endure. “We’re small, but we’re tough,” one resident told CBC. “Maya’s fight reminds us what we’re made of.”
As night falls on February 12, candles still burn outside the hospital in Vancouver where Maya lies. Her GoFundMe has surpassed $150,000, with donations flooding in from across Canada and beyond. Messages pour in: “Hold on, Maya.” “You locked that door so others could live. Now we’re locking arms around you.”
In a country where school shootings are mercifully rare, one 12-year-old girl has become a symbol of both unimaginable loss and extraordinary courage. Her battle in a sterile intensive-care unit, thousands of kilometres from home, is now the beating heart of a nation’s grief and hope. Doctors, family, and an entire country are willing her to win. For Maya Edmonds, the fight continues—one breath, one heartbeat, one miracle at a time.
