Mother of 12-year-old who survived Canada’s Tumbler Ridge school shooting updates world on daughter’s condition, asks for prayers: ‘She will continue to improve’
(L) Maya Gebala, 12. (Photo via: Maya’s mother, Cia Edmonds). / (R) view of British Columbia middle school and high school building where a shooting took place on February 11, 2026. (Photo by Eagle Vision Agency / AFP via Getty Images) / (R-bottom) Maya Gebala in the hospital. (Photo via: Maya’s mother, Cia Edmonds).
OAN Staff Brooke Mallory 10:49 AM – Friday, February 13, 2026
A 12-year-old girl who was shot in the head and neck during Tuesday’s attack at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School has survived beyond the most perilous early period doctors warned could be fatal, remaining in critical condition more than two days later.
The young girl has been fighting for her life in the hospital for roughly 72 hours now.
Maya Gebala, 12, was one of the at least 25 people wounded in Canada’s deadliest school shooting in decades, an attack that claimed eight lives, plus the shooter, an 18-year-old biological male who identified as a transgender woman at the time of the attack.
(Photo screenshot of post by Maya’s mother, Cia. – via public Facebook)
The shooter, identified by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) as 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at the scene.
As of Friday at 10:30 a.m. PT, her parents have reported seeing “incredible improvements,” including Maya coughing for the first time and showing slight movements in her hand and leg.
Late on Wednesday, Maya’s mother, Cia Edmonds, had shared an emotional update from Vancouver Children’s Hospital, where Maya was airlifted in critical condition.
“We were warned that the damage to her brain was too much for her to endure, and she wouldn’t make the night,” Edmonds wrote in a social media post. “Today started as any other. Now, however, my 12-year-old daughter is fighting for her life.”
While Maya has survived the initial trauma, the long-term outlook remains harrowing. Her mother warned that even if she continues to recover physically, the trajectory of her life has been irrevocably altered. The damage to her head and neck suggests a “distressing quality of life” ahead, with potential for permanent neurological impairment and a grueling, years-long road of rehabilitation.
The small mountain community of Tumbler Ridge has been shattered by the scale of the recent violence. The investigation revealed that Van Rootselaar began the rampage at home, killing his mother, Jennifer Jacobs, 39, and his 11-year-old stepbrother, Emmett, before driving to the secondary school.
Inside the school, the shooter opened fire in a stairwell and the library.
The British Columbia RCMP has since updated the public on the names of the child victims, in addition to the teacher who tried to shield her students from harm, in order to honor their lives.
Abel Mwansa (12): Remembered by his father as a “bright future” who loved science and experiments.
Ticaria “Tiki” Lampert (12): Described as the “glue” of her family and a “hero” to her seven siblings.
Kylie Smith (12): An aspiring artist who loved anime and dreamed of moving to Toronto for art school.
Zoey Benoit (12): Remembered by her mother as a “resilient, vibrant, and strong” girl who brought laughter to everyone.
Ezekiel Schofield (13): The oldest of the student victims; his family has asked for privacy while they grieve.
Emmett Jacobs (11): The shooter’s stepbrother. He was killed at the family home on Fellers Avenue before the shooter went to the school.
Shannda Aviugana-Durand (39): A dedicated educational assistant at the school.
Jennifer Jacobs, 39, the shooter’s mother, was also among the victims.
RCMP Deputy Commissioner Dwayne McDonald confirmed that Van Rootselaar was born male and had transitioned to female socially and publicly approximately six years ago.
Local authorities emphasized that Van Rootselaar had a history of poor mental health, with police having visited the family home as recently as the spring of 2025.
A GoFundMe page has been established to support Maya’s family as they remain by her bedside in Vancouver. The town also held a vigil on Wednesday night, where Maya was described by neighbors as “funky, vivacious, and full of life.”
“She was the light of our world,” one family friend said. “Now we just want her to have a world to come back to.”
Prime Minister Mark Carney has ordered flags on federal buildings to be flown at half-mast for seven days as the investigation into a motive continues.
You can find Maya’s GoFundMe, “to provide relief for Cia and Maya during this devastating time,” here.
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