Members of the Secwepemc Nation and hundreds of fellow Kamloops residents held a drum circle tribute Monday afternoon to pay respects to Capt. Jennifer Casey.
The group gathered at Fulton Field, just a short distance from where Casey’s Snowbird aircraft crashed into a home Sunday.
Casey was killed when an aircraft with the Canadian Forces Snowbirds demonstration team crashed.
She was the team’s public affairs officer after joining the CAF in 2014 and the Snowbirds in 2018.
From B.C. to Nova Scotia, tributes and kind words are pouring in from friends and colleagues who remember Casey as a tenacious reporter, a kind-hearted person and a diehard Montreal Canadiens fan, who had a “smile that could light up the whole room.”
The Snowbirds — famous for their nine-plane formation — had been on a cross-Canada tour called Operation Inspiration to boost morale amid the COVID-19 pandemic and salute those working on the front lines.
“For the past two weeks, the Snowbirds have been flying across the country to lift up Canadians during these difficult times,” Trudeau said in a statement. “Every day, they represent the very best of Canada and demonstrate excellence through incredible skill and dedication.”