The Tumbler Ridge RCMP detachment has only five members.
“At the time of the incident, there was two members that were working and two members that were off duty, not working that day, and one was out of the community,” Jeff Swann, the national policing federation Pacific region director for the RCMP, told Global News.
On Tuesday afternoon, a call came in reporting an active shooter at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School.
Unit commander Sgt. Bill Hughes, a 21-year RCMP veteran, and Const. Nick Gachter, who has five years of service, were the first officers on scene.
“What they did was heroic,” Swann said.
“The two members that got the call went way above and beyond duty and they protected and saved Canadian lives and children, without a doubt. They were at the school within 120 seconds of the call.
“They immediately responded, running into the school while there was gunfire happening.”
Swann said the officers “ran into gunfire” and did not hesitate.
“Immediately upon entering the school, they were shot at and they didn’t stop,” he said.
“They did everything they needed to do, that police presence, that intervention. They saved lives and the nearest backup immediately responded, except they’re, you know, a long drive away.”
Swann said RCMP officers from Fort St. John, Chetwynd and Dawson Creek responded to calls for help and the two off-duty Tumbler Ridge members were called in.
Const. Jonathan Kohut, who has served for eight years, and Const. Tyler Noon, an 11-year veteran of the force, suited up as quickly as possible and rushed to the school to assist.
“What met them was just absolutely horrific,” he said.
Eight people were shot and killed when a person opened fire at a home and at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School on Tuesday.
The victims have been identified as five students, an education assistant, the shooter’s mother, stepbrother and the shooter herself.
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The students included 12-year-old Kylie May Smith, 12-year-old Ticaria Lampert, 12-year-old Zoey Benoit, 39-year-old education assistant Shannda Aviugana-Durand, 12-year-old Abel Mwansa, 12-year-old Ezekiel Schofield, 39-year-old Jennifer Strang (Jacobs) and 11-year-old Emmett Jacobs.
Swann said that one of the responding officers was at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School earlier that day, before the shooting happened.
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“I can just tell you that these officers were fired upon and they didn’t stop,” he said.
“They continued to, every possible thing that they could do to protect those students and that school was done. They saved lives, they were heroes and I know speaking to them they don’t want that term.
“They are devastated. They are community members. They knew everybody in that school. They attended that school almost daily.”
The BC RCMP said additional resources were quickly cycled into Tumbler Ridge to ensure that the detachment is adequately staffed and public safety is maintained, while a long list of personnel from across the province have volunteered to come and support the community while the officers posted there take the necessary time to heal.
Canada’s public safety minister thanked the first responders involved when he visited Tumbler Ridge on Feb. 11.
“These men and women in uniform…protect us in unimaginable ways while sacrificing their own mental health and their own well-being,” said Gary Anandasangaree.
Anandasangaree also praised Tumbler Ridge Fire Department Chief Dustin Curry and his crew, “that was right front and centre”.
More than a dozen paramedics were also called to Tumbler Ridge on Tuesday.
“I believe there is one full-time unit up there,” Ian Tait, communications and social media director for the Ambulance Paramedics of BC, said.
“I just don’t know what else was staffed that day. I know at least three air resources were brought up, as well with multiple members on them. And then other ambulances came in as well to help with the workload because obviously, understandably, it was a challenging, horrible day.”
BC Emergency Health Services (BC EHS) confirmed Tumbler Ridge has two ambulances staffed 24/7 with four paramedics working the day shift and another four on nights.
Both crews were involved in the response on Feb. 10, while an additional six ground ambulances responded from surrounding communities along with six air ambulances.
A STARS air ambulance from Alberta also attended, said BC EHS.
“It hits us in different ways at different times,” said BC EHS clinical operations director Jonathan Brnjas.
Brnjas, who is based in Dawson Creek, led the response to the mass shooting in the small neighbouring community of approximately 2,500 people.
“The majority of our paramedics have lived here a long time, in some cases, 40 plus years,” Brnjas told Global News in an interview Friday.“To respond to an event, especially of this size and magnitude, it definitely makes it more difficult for our paramedics, knowing everybody in town.”
Tait said everyone is being offered support and any resources they need at this time.
“This is not something that usually just goes away after a shift or two, or that you can just kind of pick up the pieces,” he said.
“This is one of those horrible, tragic events that paramedics and other first responders have to deal with when it happens. And the implications of it can be a lifetime in the making.”
The BC RCMP has launched an online portal to streamline the collection of additional evidence.
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