TUMBLER RIDGE — Churches in Tumbler Ridge, B.C., are preparing for their first Sunday services since the recent shootings in which nine people died, while the life of one of the young victims has been honoured some 14,000 kilometres away.
Twelve-year-old Abel Mwansa Jr. is being remembered in his family’s former hometown of Solwezi, Zambia, for his laughter and kindness.
Friends of Abel and his family in the community have held a celebration of his life at the City of Grace Chapel, lighting candles to remember a boy who pastor Christopher Bwalya says was “a little angel.”
Bwalya, a friend of Abel Mwansa’s father and also a pastor in the church, says in a message ahead of the service that there’s “pain in both countries”
He says Abel Mwansa Sr. is hoping to “gather a bit of strength” to eventually return to Zambia to thank the community.
RCMP on Saturday removed the yellow tape that had surrounded Tumbler Ridge Secondary school since Tuesday, when 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar shot and killed five students and an educator after killing her mother and half brother at the family home.
Van Rootselaar then shot herself dead at the school.
The roads leading up to the school are still barricaded and guarded by private security.
The RCMP didn’t immediately respond to questions about next steps in the investigation, but Mounties have previously said forensic work at the home would be finished this weekend, while that work would continue at the school.
Autopsies on the bodies are expected to be finished this weekend, including for the shooter.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 15, 2026.
The Canadian Press