Alberta RCMP receive more reports of people with weapons after Tumbler Ridge shooting

Uptick in weapons reports

Photo: The Canadian Press

An RCMP vehicle blocks the road to Tumbler Ridge Secondary School as they continue to investigate following a mass shooting in Tumbler Ridge, B.C., Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christinne Muschi

Mounties in Alberta say they have seen an uptick in weapons calls since the mass school shooting in Tumbler Ridge.

RCMP spokesman Cpl. Troy Savinkoff says he can't say with certainty that the uptick is connected with the shooting that left nine dead last week, but it is unusual and Mounties believe people have been more sensitive to the tragedy.

Savinkoff says Mounties received four calls for a person with a weapon in the last week in High River and Fort McMurray, in Alberta's north, in the west-central town of Edson, and in Sherwood Park, a hamlet located east of Edmonton.

The calls forced several surrounding schools into lockdown for hours.

Only the call in Edson resulted in charges after a man threw beef jerky at students while screaming Bible verses and then shot a gun three times before fleeing the scene.

Adam Lankford, a professor in the University of Alabama's criminology department, says the uptick is not surprising as his research in the United States has found that the emotions people feel after a mass shooting make them react on the side of caution.