Tumbler Ridge Forever Changed After Mass Shooting

Just over 40 years ago Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, was created as a model of Canada’s future. Carved out of mountain woods to serve two new mines, it differed from many resource towns: the open-pit mines were sited outside the community, miners lived in tidy family homes linked by curving streets and green spaces, and a downtown was within walking distance.

It is a place where people don’t lock their doors. That peaceful isolation ended this week. Five students and an educational assistant were shot dead in the high school, and two other people were fatally shot at home; the 18-year-old shooter ultimately killed herself.

Most of the victims were just 12 or 13 years old, and the town of 2,400 has been left in shock. In the aftermath, much of Tumbler Ridge took refuge indoors and those who ventured out wore dazed looks. Sarah Lampert remembered, at times in a barely audible whisper, her 12-year-old daughter Ticaria, known as Tiki.

Canada, Tumbler Ridge

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