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B.C. Parents Guard School Amid Youth’s Alleged Kill List: “We Don’t Want Another Tumbler Ridge”
An underreported story is unfolding in Falkland, B.C., where parents are standing watch over their elementary school, children are spending recess indoors, bus locations are changing, tournaments are being cancelled, and some parents are not sending their children to school at all, as a youth behind an alleged kill list has been walking around the school in the mornings.
Every morning, a number of parents organize to stand watch over Falkland Elementary School to ensure the safety of their children, as a troubled youth lives across from the school and chooses to walk around school property during drop-off, causing anxiety and stress, especially amid a lack of RCMP presence.
“Why are we waiting for something bad to happen for this to be taken seriously?” one parent, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, asked, fearing repercussions for herself or her children.
The community says it feels unsupported and does not know whether the young man is getting the help and support he needs from the province, while also calling on the RCMP to have an officer present near the school.
“Basically threatening to kill them with box cutters, drink their blood, and take out anybody else that gets in the way,” said a concerned grandmother, Lori-Ann Rohrback, detailing the alleged threats and questioning what meaningful action authorities have taken after seeing him walking around and on school property even though he is banned from it.
Nearly two years ago, an approximately half-a-billion-dollar fentanyl superlab was busted in Falkland, B.C., where only one person, Gaganpreet Randhawa, was arrested, highlighting the lack of police oversight in rural B.C.
"We're just rural people," said a concerned parent, "we just don't have a voice," saying that they're feeling abandoned to fend off this threat by themselves with no support from the government.
Matthew Henegan, a Falkland resident and CAF veteran, says authorities need to communicate better: “Relying on a playbook pre-Tumbler Ridge, I think, is outdated, because we live in a different world now, and that’s just the reality of living in B.C. post-Tumbler Ridge.”
While it remains unclear what steps authorities have taken, the youth’s presence around the school raises the question of when he will get the help he needs, and when the town will return to normal.
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