Family of girl, 12, remembers ‘beautiful, kind, innocent soul’ killed in Tumbler Ridge mass shooting

‘We are completely devastated and have no words as we try to process the magnitude of the situation,’ her aunt said

Tumbler Ridge mass shooting victim Kylie Smith was just 12 years old. Photo by Shanon Dycke/GoFundMe

The aunt of Tumbler Ridge mass shooting victim Kylie May Smith said their family’s world “crumbled” when they learned the 12-year-old girl was among the dead.

In a Facebook post Wednesday, Shanon Dykce said that her niece “didn’t make it out” when the shooter arrived at the local high school and killed six people a day earlier.

“We are completely devastated and have no words as we try to process the magnitude of the situation,” Dycke wrote on a GoFundMe campaign to support the family.

“We are completely devastated and have no words as we try to process the magnitude of the situation,” Kylie Smith’s aunt said of the 12-year-old’s death in a B.C. school shooting. Photo by Shanon Dycke/GoFundMe

She explained that Smith’s mother, Desirae Pisarski, who had recently moved to Vancouver Island after nearly 12 years in Tumbler Ridge, “hasn’t seen her daughter in a few months.” The girl lives in the tiny northeastern B.C. town with her father and stepmother, along with a stepbrother and her brother, who only just returned north recently. Dycke said he “will need his mom more than ever right now.”

Funds raised will support the family’s expenses in the coming weeks and pay for a fitting memorial for Smith, “to remember the beautiful, kind, innocent soul she was.”

“My heart aches for the other families involved and for the loss of their children. I am so sorry,” she added in the GoFundMe post.

“To the families with children still in the hospital; keep fighting. We are sending you prayers.”

Dycke declined to comment further when contacted by National Post.

Eight people were killed and at least 27 more were injured on Tuesday when the shooter, now identified by the RCMP as 18-year-old Tumbler Ridge resident Jesse Van Rootselaar, carried out the attack. Police believe Van Rootselaar died of a self-inflicted injury inside the school after the shooting.

Six people were killed at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School, an adult female teacher, three female students — including Smith — and two male students, one of whom was identified in a Facebook post by his father as 12-year-old Abel Mwansa.

Two more people — whom police believe are Rootselaar’s mother and stepbrother — were found dead at a nearby home.

In the quiet mountain town of Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, life has always moved at a gentle pace. Nestled amid rugged peaks and vast forests, the community of just over 2,000 residents prides itself on close-knit bonds, where neighbors know one another’s children by name and school events draw nearly everyone together. But on February 10, 2026, that sense of safety shattered in an instant when an 18-year-old gunman unleashed a devastating attack, first at a family home and then at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School.

Among the lives stolen that day was 12-year-old Kylie May Smith, a vibrant girl whose laughter, creativity, and boundless kindness had brightened every room she entered.

Kylie’s father, Lance Younge, still replays the morning in his mind like a film stuck on repeat. It was an ordinary Tuesday. He watched as Kylie and her older brother Ethan walked toward the school entrance, backpacks slung over their shoulders, chatting as siblings do. “I let her off, I let her go to school with her brother Ethan in the morning,” he later shared in a raw interview with CTV News, his voice cracking with grief. “And just…

I soaked in that moment, watching them walk in the door together.” He had no way of knowing it would be the last time he would see his daughter alive. Kylie, full of dreams and gentle spirit, was gone before the day ended.

Kylie was described by her family as “the light in our family.” She was a talented artist from a young age, filling sketchbooks with colorful drawings inspired by her love of anime and imaginative worlds. Her mother, Desirae Pisarski, recalled how, even as a toddler, Kylie would grab crayons in both hands to capture whatever was playing on the television. “She wanted to be an artist since she could hold a pencil,” her mother said.

Kylie dreamed big—she talked often about moving to Toronto one day to attend art school, to immerse herself in a bigger city where her creativity could flourish. She was thriving in her first year at secondary school, loving her classes, her friends, and the simple joy of learning. “She loved her family, friends, and going to school,” a family statement released through the RCMP read. “She was a talented artist and had dreams of going to art school in the big city of Toronto. Rest in paradise, sweet girl, our family will never be the same without you.”

The horror unfolded in the afternoon. Ethan, Kylie’s brother, managed to hide in a utility room as chaos erupted in the school. From that cramped, dark space, terrified but alive, he sent a brief text to his parents: “I LOVE YOU.” It was a simple message, one that in any other context might have been routine. But in that moment, it carried the weight of fear and love, a desperate reach across uncertainty. Moments later, he called, his voice trembling as he told them he was safe but couldn’t find his sister.

The family was plunged into agony, piecing together fragments of information amid rumors, frantic community updates, and agonizing silence from officials.

In the school library, where much of the violence occurred, a classmate named Maddie showed extraordinary courage. As others fled or hid, Maddie stayed by Kylie’s side. For 45 relentless minutes, she performed CPR, refusing to stop even as hope dimmed and exhaustion set in. Her efforts were heroic, a testament to the selflessness that can emerge in the darkest moments. Later, it was Maddie—not authorities—who approached the family to deliver the unbearable news: Kylie had not survived.

The delay in official communication left Kylie’s loved ones grappling with confusion and pain, learning devastating details through whispers and community networks rather than formal channels.

The shooter, identified by police as Jesse Van Rootselaar, 18, had begun the day by killing his mother, Jennifer Jacobs, 39, and his 11-year-old half-brother, Emmett Jacobs, at their home. He then proceeded to the school armed with firearms, where he killed five students—including Kylie, Zoey Benoit, Abel Mwansa, Ezekiel Schofield, and Ticaria Lampert—and a staff member before taking his own life. Twenty-five others were wounded, some critically. It marked one of Canada’s deadliest school shootings in decades, leaving a scar on a town that had rarely known such violence.

In the days that followed, Tumbler Ridge transformed into a place of collective mourning. Vigils lit the nights with flickering candles, as classmates, teachers, and neighbors gathered in silence or shared stories of the lost. Drawings and notes covered makeshift memorials outside the school, many featuring anime characters or colorful sketches in honor of Kylie’s passion. Friends remembered her as someone who cared deeply for others, always ready with a kind word or a smile. “She never hurt a soul,” her father said. “She was just a beautiful soul.”

The grief ripples far beyond the immediate family. Kylie’s aunt, Shanon Dycke, launched a GoFundMe to support her mother Desirae, brother Ethan, and extended relatives with travel costs, memorial expenses, and the overwhelming needs that follow such a loss. Donations poured in from across Canada and beyond, a small but meaningful show of solidarity. Other families affected by the tragedy have similarly called for focus to remain on the victims, not the perpetrator. “Hold your kids tight, tell them you love them every day.

You never know,” Lance Younge urged in interviews, his words echoing the pain of a final goodbye that came without warning.

For Kylie’s parents, the house feels emptier now. Sketchbooks lie open on tables, pages filled with dreams that will never be realized in the way she imagined. Plans for Toronto, once spoken with excitement, now carry a bittersweet weight. Yet amid the sorrow, there is resolve to honor her memory. The community has pledged to carry her light forward—through art programs in her name, scholarships for young creators, or simply by remembering the joy she brought.

Kylie’s story is heartbreakingly familiar in an era of too many school tragedies, yet it remains uniquely hers: that of a 12-year-old girl who loved fiercely, created beautifully, and left an indelible mark on everyone who knew her. In Tumbler Ridge, candles still burn, tears still fall, and a brother’s final text—”I LOVE YOU”—lingers as a reminder of love that endures even when life is stolen too soon. As the town heals, slowly and together, Kylie’s spirit lives on in the colors she painted, the kindness she shared, and the unbreakable bonds she helped forge.

She was, and forever will be, the light her family and community refuse to let fade.

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