Tumbler Ridge student says he doesn’t know how to return to school following mass shooting

Grade 12 student Darian Quist was in mechanics class at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School on Tuesday when an alarm started going off.

“It’s very distinct from any other alarm,” he told Global News.

“And as it went off, we had our principal coming down the hall, telling us to close all the doors; it’s a lockdown.”

Quist said he wasn’t sure if it was a drill at first, but they quickly realized it wasn’t and barricaded the doors in case anyone tried to get into the classroom.

Tumbler Ridge RCMP had issued an active shooter alert around 2:20 p.m. local time on Tuesday after reports of a person shooting at the school with a gun.

Five students, along with a female educator, were killed in the shooting.

In addition, the mother and stepbrother of the shooter were killed at their home before the shooting at the school.

Two people were rushed to hospitals in serious condition and about 25 others were injured and treated locally in the community.

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The shooter, identified as 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar, died from what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound, RCMP said on Wednesday.

2:03 Tumbler Ridge says ‘We will get through this together’

Quist said he didn’t know or have any connection to the shooter. While the secondary school and elementary schools are closed for the remainder of the week, Quist said it is going to be hard to return to school.

“I think that it’s going to be tough,” he said. “And my heart goes out, especially to the students that were either close to the students that unfortunately died or were very close to where the main part of the incident was occurring. So I think everybody is going to have a tough time. And I, frankly, expect a few people not to return at all.”

Quist’s mother, Shelley, works across the street from the school and saw an ambulance, firefighters and an RCMP officer crouched in the parking lot with his gun drawn.

She said she was able to get her son on the phone and kept him on until he was escorted over to the community centre.

A vigil was held in the community on Wednesday night, which Quist and his mom said was comforting.

“To be around community members, to just hold space for … the children that didn’t make it home and the EA that didn’t make it,” Shelley said.

2:58 What we know about the Tumbler Ridge shooting victims, suspect

B.C. Premier David Eby has travelled to Tumbler Ridge, along with numerous other politicians and officials.

Prime Minister Mark Carney will be travelling there on Friday, his office has confirmed.