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The final words of one of the victims of the mass shooting in Tumbler Ridge, B.C., have been shared by his family: “Tell my parents that I love them so much.”
That text is engraved on the gravestone of 12-year-old Abel Mwansa Jr. in his home country of Zambia.
Images of the grave were shared by his father, Abel Mwansa Sr., a former pastor in the Zambian town of Solwezi, who moved his family to Tumbler Ridge in 2023 to work in the mining sector.
“Son, we received your last words,” the gravestone also reads, describing Mwansa Jr. as “an angel among men, touching lives across the nations of the earth with a rare smile and honour in silence.
“Many lives were refreshed and blessed. You ran your race and fought a good fight.”
Mwansa Sr. also directed people to listen to a story from Bob Zimmer, the MP who represents Tumbler Ridge, about how those last words were delivered.
At the National Prayer Breakfast in Ottawa on March 24, Zimmer relayed the story of a young girl named Christina, a 12-year-old who he says cared for wounded classmates at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School during the shooting.
At the National Prayer Breakfast in Ottawa on March 24, the MP representing Tumbler Ridge, Bob Zimmer, shared new stories of heroism and heartbreak from the mass shooting that rocked the community a month earlier, including the final words of victim Abel Mwansa Jr.
Among those she looked after, Zimmer said, was Mwasa Jr., who asked Christina to deliver his message to his family.
Christina did so, Zimmer said, calling her a hero.
“The tragic yet beautiful words from a beloved son to beloved parents. Beautiful words they wouldn’t have known except for a promise kept by his heroic classmate, Christina.”
‘Long road ahead’ for victim in recovery
Zimmer also shared that Christina aided 12-year-old Maya Gebala, who remains in B.C. Children’s Hospital with serious injuries. He said he recently met with her family, and learned that Gebala had attempted to lock the door to the library to keep the shooter out.
“Maya is doing very well and is moving her eyes and legs and arms,” he said. “I ask you to continue to pray for her.”
Gebala’s mother, Cia Edmonds, has not spoken to media but has been providing updates to followers on social media.
In a post on Wednesday, Edmonds said there have been some positive signs and said there have been meetings about leaving the intensive care unit.
“The first time anything has been said that isn’t emotionally debilitating,” she wrote.
In the same post she said that Ultimate Fighting Championship president Dana White has offered to pay for her daughter to be treated in California.
Requests to UFC and White from CBC News did not receive a reply, but Gebala’s name has previously been displayed inside the ring of a UFC match.
Edmonds said any plans for the future were “tentative” but added, “we may finally start looking towards a future for my girls.”
Tumbler Ridge held a small ceremony Thursday night to mark 30 days since the deadly mass shooting. As Janella Hamilton reports, residents gathered to observe a moment of silence and prayer before the flags outside town hall were returned to full-mast, and the makeshift memorial on its steps was moved to a nearby location.
In a follow up post on Friday evening, she outlined “the long road ahead,” for her family.
“Eventually, we will need to find a home close to the hospital, which isn’t cheap here, unfortunately,” she wrote.
“We may need a chair lift, a new vehicle, maybe round the clock care… the maybes go on…
“All I know for sure, is the present and future are a lot less dark, when there is potential for new beginnings.”
Joint federal-provincial commission into shooting an option: minister
Meanwhile, B.C.’s public safety minister Nina Krieger has said it’s possible a joint federal-provincial commission into the shooting, which killed eight people alongside the shooter, will be held.
Zimmer is among those in the Conservative caucus calling for a public inquiry into the tragedy.
Krieger said while a B.C. coroner’s inquest is being held, it’s her government’s belief that every tool available should be used to answer outstanding questions.
Krieger says it is too early to say when such a commission could be called, but staff in her ministry said on background that such a commission could call witnesses from outside of British Columbia, including representatives of international companies with offices in Canada.
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