Grade 12 student Amy-Lynn Ketellapper was in class when she heard gunshots ring out inside Tumbler Ridge Secondary School.
“I heard the first couple of shots – might have been four or five, bang, bang, bang, bang – and then it paused for a minute and then started back up again, a couple more shots, and then it kind of went quiet,” Ketellapper told CTV News on Thursday.
“We hid against the back wall at first, but then later switched to behind my teacher’s desk where we stayed for the next two, two-and-a-half hours.”
On Tuesday, a shooting rampage rocked the small community of Tumbler Ridge, B.C., when 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar allegedly killed her mother and a sibling at home before bringing the carnage to Tumbler Ridge Secondary School, where five students and one staff member were shot to death. Another 27 people were injured, including two who remain in hospital. Van Rootselaar reportedly committed suicide as police arrived at the scene.
“We knew that something bad had happened, we heard our principal shouting, ‘Lock down the school, lock down the school!’” Ketellapper recalled. “I heard her say to I’m assuming another student, ‘Get inside the class now!’ Then we heard the alarm for the lockdown go off.”
Despite the alleged shooter’s mental health struggles, Ketellapper says the deaths are “inexcusable.” One of the victims, 12-year-old Abel Mwansa, was someone Ketellapper knew well.
“He was a bright kid,” Ketellapper said while holding back tears. “Sweetest guy imaginable. He lit up everyone’s world. He was very driven.”
With files from CTV National News Chief News Anchor and Senior Editor Omar Sachedina