12-Year-Old SHOT Locking School Door

Empty classroom with chairs on top of desks.

A brave 12-year-old girl, shot in the head while heroically locking a school library door to save her classmates, now faces a postponed fourth skull surgery in her grueling fight for life.

Story Highlights

Maya Gebala, 12, wounded protecting peers during February 10, 2026, Tumbler Ridge school shooting that killed eight and injured 27.
Shooter Jesse Van Rootselaar, a former student, first murdered her own family before attacking the school and dying by suicide.
Maya battles pneumonia, MRSA, meningitis, and brain injuries after two surgeries; fourth surgery delayed amid slow recovery signs like eye opening and hand squeezes.
Family sues OpenAI in unexplained legal action; remote community grapples with trauma and school closure.

The Heroic Act That Saved Lives

On February 10, 2026, Jesse Van Rootselaar killed her mother Jennifer Strang and half-brother Emmett Jacobs at their home in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia. Van Rootselaar then entered Tumbler Ridge Secondary School, targeting the library where 12-year-old Maya Gebala stood guard. Maya attempted to lock the door, shielding classmates from gunfire. She suffered severe head and neck wounds but her quick thinking likely prevented further deaths among young students.

RCMP confirmed six dead at the school: five students aged 12-13 and education assistant Shannda Aviugana-Durand. Twenty-seven others, including Maya and a 19-year-old woman, sustained injuries. One victim initially reported dead survived with catastrophic brain damage. Van Rootselaar died by suicide, marking this as a rare familicide-school shooting hybrid in Canada’s strict gun law environment.

Maya’s Uphill Medical Battle

Maya underwent airlift to BC Children’s Hospital in Vancouver via Shock Trauma Air Rescue from Grande Prairie, Alberta. Her mother, Cia Edmonds, shared on March 1 that Maya fought pneumonia, MRSA, meningitis, and a cerebral leak after two brain surgeries. Positive signs emerged: Maya opened her eye, followed TV shows, squeezed hands, and wiggled toes. Swelling reduced, and her breathing tube was removed.

Reports indicate a fourth skull surgery to repair fractures was postponed, extending Maya’s fight. Cia Edmonds posted on Facebook: “Day by day, she’s coming back… swelling is going down.” The Gebala family, including father David, faces ongoing medical crises in this isolated resource town of 2,000, straining local logistics and healthcare.

Community Resilience and Legal Recourse

Tumbler Ridge Secondary School closed indefinitely after the attack, sparking debates on reopening. Survivor Maddy Mansky, in a February 17 interview, urged facing fears: students like her hid during the chaos, mourning friends Ezekiel Shofield, Kylie Smith, and Ticaria Lampert. A 19-year-old survivor was released February 16. Global support included a UFC tribute.

The Gebala family filed a lawsuit against OpenAI shortly after February 10. Details remain unclear, but it pits a grieving family against a tech giant, raising questions about liability in tragedies. RCMP leads the investigation into Van Rootselaar’s unknown motives. This outlier event renews Canadian discussions on school safety despite stringent gun controls, contrasting U.S. challenges where endless wars drain resources from families like the Gebalas.