Tumbler Ridge school shooting victim set to hopefully return home soon from Vancouver hospital

Andrea Macpherson has the latest on the Tumbler Ridge shooting investigation. One of the victims may be able to go home soon and the Independent Investigations Office has confirmed it is investigating.

Paige Hoekstra, 19, was shot in the chest and had to be flown to a Vancouver hospital.She underwent surgery last week and in an update posted on her GoFundMe on Feb. 16, her family said doctors are now confident it is safe to bring Paige home to Tumbler Ridge.

They are now working out the logistics of trying to get her home and talking to her doctors, the family said.

“Our family is so incredibly lucky to be able to share this little bit of good news with everyone who was worried for Paige,” the update read.

“To the other families affected, if there is ANYTHING our family can do to support you, even just a shoulder to cry on, please let us know. It’s the least we could do to help support our community through this.”

Vigils for Tumbler Ridge victims

Another surviving victim of the mass shooting, 12-year-old Maya Gebala, remains at BC Children’s Hospital.

Her mother remains by her side, but Maya’s prognosis is still a delicate one.

“I think the gravity of what’s happened has finally sunk in… I’ve been staring at my sweet Maya moon for the past 6 days,” her mom wrote in her GoFundMe.

“I think I had a glimmer of hope that she might open her eyes… maybe she would recognize me..

“My baby is in there.. but how much is left.”

Her mother said time will only tell.

My sweet Maya, I miss you,” she wrote.

“To the moon, and all the stars in the sky.”

Maya tried to lock the library door to save her classmates when shots rang out on Tuesday, Feb. 10, around 1 p.m.

Last week, Maya’s aunt, Krysta Hunt, told Global News that her niece had undergone surgery to repair a brain bleed and she still had a lot of swelling.

“She has a bullet in her head, above her left eye, and she has a bullet in her neck,” Hunt said. “They are not sure if the bullet in her neck went all the way through or not, or if it’s still internal, but they’re leaving it for now to focus on her head.”

Questions over return to learning for Tumbler Ridge students as community grieves

It has now been one week since the mass shooting at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School and the B.C. government says temporary classroom units for students are expected to arrive in the town on Tuesday.

The Peace River South School District said last week that students will not be returning to the high school and that temporary units will be set up on the grounds of Tumbler Ridge Elementary School.

It says it will take several days for crews to set them up, with water and heating and for the units to be furnished for students and staff.

A date has not been set for the resumption of classes.

Eight people were shot and killed in the shooting.

Five of those people were students and one was an educational assistant, with the other two being identified as the shooter’s mother and stepbrother.

The shooter was also found dead of what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound, RCMP said.