Tumbler Ridge shooting victim Abel Mwansa Jr. laid to rest in Zambia

By Canadian Press on March 2, 2026.

KITWE — A 12-year-old boy killed in a mass shooting in Tumbler Ridge, B.C., last month has been laid to rest after a local funeral in the African country of Zambia.

Abel Mwansa Jr.’s family moved from Zambia to Tumbler Ridge in 2023, and the boy was among eight people killed in the remote northeastern town on Feb. 10.

A social media video by Mwansa’s father, Abel Mwansa, shows the funeral taking place at a church in Kitwe, Zambia, with the boy’s body in a closed blue casket while mourners gather in songs and prayer.

Another video shows the boy’s casket being lowered into a grave as mourners sang hymns and prayers among those gathered, including some seated under a canopy.

The Tumbler Ridge attacks saw Jesse Van Rootselaar shoot and kill her mother and 11-year-old half-brother at their home, before going to the local secondary school where she killed five students, an educational assistant and then herself.

Canadian and Zambian officials have said the boy’s body arrived in Zambia by plane on Saturday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 2, 2026.

The Canadian Press