Families share memories; RCMP releases photo of Tumbler Ridge shooter

The Prime Minister and all major party leaders are in Tumbler Ridge, B.C. Friday night as the community comes together to grieve.

The federal politicians arrived Friday afternoon – heading to the memorial outside the town’s community centre to lay flowers.

Mark Carney and his wife, along with Pierre Poilievre, Don Davies, and Elizabeth may added bouquets to the growing memorial, and took part in a moment of silence.

The leaders appeared visibly upset, as they stood together in solidarity.

Bloc Quebecois leader Yves-Francois Blanchet is also scheduled to attend Friday night.

It comes as we are hearing from the mother of one of the victims, learning new details about the others and also hearing from the shooter’s biological father who says he offers “heartfelt condolences.”

“She was whoever and whatever someone needed – She was everything, especially to me,” says Sarah Lampert, mother of Ticaria Lampert.

The mother of 12-year-old Ticaria Lampert tried to maintain her composure, as she told a room full of reporters how precious her little girl was.

WATCH MORE: B.C. RCMP identifies victims of Tumbler Ridge shooting

“My daughter was a gift from the very start of her journey – a family hero. Even just in her existence, she saved me and her sisters,” Lampert says.

Ticaria or “tiki torch” as her mother called her, was one of the five students gunned down Tuesday at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School.

She leaves behind 7 siblings.

“She loved her family fiercely. Her grandma, her siblings, her uncles, everybody. Her friends were her everything,” says Sarah Lampert.

A close family friend shared a picture of Ticaria with another victim – 12-year-old Kylie Smith – saying the two girls were best friends, and did everything together.

“She had the biggest heart and was such a gentle, loving, caring girl, who lit up the way everywhere she went. She couldn’t hurt a fly,” Kylie Smith’s mother, Desirae Pisarski writes of her daughter.

WATCH MORE: Tumbler Ridge, B.C. reeling after shooting claims multiple lives, including children

12-year-old Zoey Benoit was also killed. As was 39-year-old teacher Shanda Aviugana-Durand.

So was the shooter’s mother and stepbrother – who police say she shot at the family home.

They were 11-year-old Emmett Jacobs and 39-year-old Jennifer Jacobs.

“So many young lives were ended so needlessly. Our hearts are broken not only for Ezekiel, but for every family affected by this tragedy,” writes the grandfather of 13-year-old Ezekiel Schofield.

“I was broken when I saw you packed in that black bag lifeless and zipped up – seeing your child murdered at this age is heart breaking,” writes the father of 12-year-old Abel Mwansa Jr., who was also killed Tuesday.

“The death that has really affected us to be honest is he comes to our church,” says Tracy Krauss, the pastor at New Life Assembly Church in Tumbler Ridge, B.C.

WATCH MORE: Police identify Tumbler Ridge, B.C. shooter, country in mourning

Krauss knows many of the families involved in the tragedy, including one of the children killed.

“Very good friends with my daughter’s children. This kid was a good kid. He always had the biggest smile and he was so polite,” says Krauss.

She says she also knows the family of the shooter – 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar – and says the family is part of the community, adding that the pain of the tragedy is made worse because it was done by one of their own.

Police say Van Rootselaar had a history of mental illness, had dropped out of school 4-years-ago and had begun transitioning to a woman six-years-ago.

“As the biological father of the individual responsible, I carry a sorrow that is difficult to put into words. I was estranged from Jesse [Van Rootselaar] and was not part of his life….while that distance is the reality of our relationship, it does not lessen the heartbreak I feel for the pain that has been caused to innocent people and to the town we call home,” Justin Van Rootselaar wrote in a statement.

Nine people in total were killed including the shooter – in one of Canada’s deadliest mass shootings.

The mother of 12-year-old Maya Gebala – who was shot in the head and neck and airlifted to hospital – says the girl moved today.

The sister of 19-year-old Paige Hoekstra – the other person airlifted to hospital – says she has survived being shot in the chest and is now out of surgery and recovering.

B.C. RCMP attempt to combat online misinformation

The RCMP offered an update on their investigation and released the first official image of Jesse Van Rootselaar.

The photo of the shooter was shared to correct misinformation spreading online.

The Mounties say incorrect images are circulating and at least one major media outlet used the wrong photos.

They say an individual named Zylee who lives in Ontario has been incorrectly identified in photos as the shooter.

Next steps

A Canadian criminologist is calling on all levels of government to better fund mental health support services and limit access to guns, in the wake of the tragic mass shooting.

Irvin Waller is a professor emeritus of criminology at the University of Ottawa. He points to the federal and Nova Scotia governments’ joint Mass Casualty Commission that came up with 130 recommendations to prevent future violence, following the mass shooting in Nova Scotia in 2020, that killed 22 people.

“We have to go back to Portapique, N.S. – their recommended public health strategies – have we done anything about the public health strategies? If we have, I’m not aware of them,” Waller says.

“That I think is really key, we have to get serious about not just saying how horrible it was, how tragic, how much we empathize with the victims. But what can we do to prevent this from happening again?”

A report tracking the progress of the recommendations found that the federal government had only completed two of the 14 categories by last fall.

Some of the recommendations include revamping the way police handle intimate-partner violence cases, and creating a national action plan to make mental health care accessible.