Twelve-year-old Kylie Smith, who was the “light of her family,” is being identified by her grieving father as one of the students killed in a shooting at a Tumbler Ridge, B.C., high school Wednesday.
Her dad spoke to CTV News Wednesday, from the small community that has been shattered by the shocking mass shooting that left nine people dead, including the suspect.
“She was just a beautiful soul. She loves art and anime. She wanted to go to school in Toronto, and we just loved her so much. She was thriving in high school,” her dad, Lance Younge, said. “She never hurt a soul.”
Younge said he heard from Ethan, Kylie’s 15-year-old brother, who was hiding in a utility closet at the school around 3 p.m. local time. He wanted to tell his family he loved them.
But he didn’t know where Kylie was.
The last time Younge saw his daughter was when she entered the school that morning with her brother.
“I soaked in that moment watching them walk in the door together, for whatever reason. I didn’t know it would be the last time,” he said.
Young said seeing speculation swirling online about who the shooter was and what their motivation might have been in the immediate aftermath of the tragedy compounded his family’s suffering.
Instead of focusing on the shooter, Younge wants people to focus on the victims.
“You want to put someone’s picture up on the news? he said. ”Put my daughter’s picture up.”
“Let’s stop giving this psychopath the recognition, because these kids were lost before they got to become teenagers. Let’s put these pictures up, remember them and not this murderer.”
Tumbler Ridge Secondary School has fewer than 175 students, and Younge said his family knows the victims all personally.
“They’re amazing kids. All these families know each other, they grew up together,” he said.
“Hold your kids tight, tell them you love them every day. You never know, you never know.”
With files from CTV News’ Andrew Johnson
