Tragic Shooting: 12-Year-Old Girl Among Victims in Devastating Attack by Transgender Shooter

A heartbroken mother has revealed that her 12-year-old daughter, tragically injured in a school shooting in Canada, is not expected to survive through the night. The young girl, Maya Gebala, suffered critical gunshot wounds to the head and neck during the horrific attack.

The devastating incident unfolded at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School, where 18-year-old Jesse Strang unleashed a torrent of violence, injuring numerous children and teachers, and claiming the lives of eight individuals before taking their own life. Strang, who was born male, began identifying as female at the age of 12, according to a statement released by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police on Wednesday.

Maya’s mother, Cia Edmonds, provided a poignant update from Vancouver Children’s Hospital, where she remains by her daughter’s side. In a heartfelt message, Edmonds expressed the grim prognosis shared by medical professionals. “We were warned that the damage to her brain was too much for her to endure, and she wouldn’t make the night,” she conveyed on Wednesday afternoon, capturing the depth of her despair.

Maya’s mother Cia Edmonds shared a heartbreaking update from her daughter’s bedside in Vancouver Children’s Hospital.

‘We were warned that the damage to her brain was too much for her to endure, and she wouldn’t make the night,’ she said on Wednesday afternoon.

‘I can feel her in my heart. I can feel her saying its going to be OK… She’s here… for how long we don’t know.

‘Our baby needs a miracle.’

A female teacher aged 39, three girls all aged 12, and two boys aged 12 and 13 died in the massacre at the small town in eastern British Columbia on Tuesday.

Strang’s mother Jennifer Strang, 39, and younger brother Emmett, 11, were both found dead at the family home. 

Maya’s mother Cia Edmonds shared this photo from hospital as she played for a miracle after doctors told her the little girl wouldn’t last the night

Maya Gebala, 12, is fighting for her life after she was shot at her school in Canada on Tuesday

RCMP said it mistakenly named an injured girl as the seventh fatal victim of the shooting at the school. It is unclear if they were referring to Maya. 

Edmonds said she also grieved for the six families whose children were killed at the school, and those trying to come to terms with the shooting.

‘It was just a normal day. Our community is shattered,’ she said.

‘My heart bleeds for everyone who is trying to process this horrific string of events. Far too many are grieving already.’

Strang dropped out of school aged 14. 

Royal Canadian Mounted Police referred to Strang by his official surname, Van Rootselar, although he used his mother’s last name locally and on social media. 

Maya’s mother earlier said her daughter was hit by shrapnel during the shooting and was airlifted from the small town to Vancouver on Tuesday.

‘Today started as any other. Now, however, my 12-year-old daughter is fighting for her life while they try to repair the damage from a gunshot wound to the head, and one to the neck,’ she said on Tuesday night.

Maya was a skilled defender on the local Tumbler Ridge Raptors under-13 ice hockey team in the North East Recreational Hockey League

Edmonds (right) with Maya and her sister in happier times

‘She was a lucky one, I suppose. Condolences to the other families during this tragedy. This doesn’t even feel real.

‘I never thought I would be asking for prayers… but please, please pray for my baby.’

Edmonds’ cousin Krysta Hunt started a GoFundMe so Maya’s mother could take time off work to help her through recovery.

The girl’s aunt Marta Batten added: ‘There are no words for the fear and pain our family is feeling in this moment.’ 

Maya was a skilled defender on the local Tumbler Ridge Raptors under-13 ice hockey team in the North East Recreational Hockey League.

A video showed students walking out of the school with their hands raised as police vehicles surrounded the building and a helicopter circled overhead.

Maya was one of at least two-dozen children and teachers wounded when a ‘female in a dress’ opened fire at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School

Children were led out of the school after the shooting in a picturesque mountain valley town

Tumbler Ridge, a picturesque mountain valley town in the foothills of the Rockies about 736 miles north of Vancouver, has a population of 2,400.

It is described as an ‘incredibly safe community’ by town councilors. 

The remote community is known for its lakes, rivers, waterfalls and hiking trails. The area earned UNESCO Global Geopark status for its hundreds of dinosaur tracks and fossils.

The secondary school, which enrolls 175 students, and its elementary school, will be closed for the rest of the week.

British Columbia Premier David Eby told reporters that police officers reached the school within two minutes.

Tumbler Ridge Mayor Darryl Krakowka said the whole community is grieving.

‘I broke down,’ he said, saying it was ‘devastating’ to learn how many had died in the community of 2,700, which he called a ‘big family’.

‘I have lived here for 18 years,’ Krakowka said. ‘I probably know every one of the victims.’

No timeline has been given for Maya’s recovery. Her family have set up a GoFundMe page

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said in a social media post that he was devastated by the shooting.

‘I join Canadians in grieving with those whose lives have been changed irreversibly today, and in gratitude for the courage and selflessness of the first responders who risked their lives to protect their fellow citizens,’ he wrote.

Canada’s government has responded to previous mass shootings with gun control measures, including a recently broadened ban on all guns it considers assault weapons.

Tuesday’s shootings were Canada’s deadliest rampage since 2020, when a gunman in Nova Scotia killed 13 people and set fires that left another nine dead.