The mother of a 12-year-old girl who was seriously wounded in the school shooting which rocked Canada last week has given a harrowing update on her condition.
Maya Gebala was one of nine people shot by transgender teen Jesse Van Rootselaar at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School in British Columbia on February 10.
The schoolgirl was shot in the neck and head and was initially not expected to survive. More than a week later though, she is still alive and is now responding to stimuli while she recovers at Vancouver Children's Hospital.
Her mother, Cia Edmonds, posted a video of Maya with several bandages and tubes over her face and mouth in her hospital bed on Saturday. 'Her eye is open and she's responding and moving around,' Edmonds said. 'And she is moving her hands.'
Edmonds also shared a photograph of her other daughter, Dahlia, holding her older sister's hand as she stood beside her hospital bed.
The heartbroken mother explained that Dahlia was also at the school during the shooting and panicked when Maya wasn't answering her texts when they went into lockdown.
'She was calling me screaming "mommy go home, mommy go home, it isn't safe!" Edmonds wrote.
'I couldn't tell her that I was currently losing myself in the emergency room peering through a crack in the window watching the staff try to keep [Maya] alive.'
Maya Gebala, 12, was shot in the neck and head during a shooting last week at a Canadian school last week. She is still alive and is now able to move her hands, according to her mother
Dahlia, Maya's younger sister, stands over the hospital bed. Dahlia was at the school during the shooting
Maya is pictured with her mother, Cia Edmonds. Edmonds has posted updates about her daughter's condition over the last week
'I am so proud of my big fighter, but also for my little warrior who suffers from the same nightmare, but is overshadowed by the potential loss of her big sister,' she added.
'Today I am so proud of my darling Dahlia.'
Van Rootselaar, 18, shot and killed a 39-year-old female teacher, along with three girls and two boys aged between 12 and 13, according to Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
Following the attack, Van Rootselaar died from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, police said.
Investigators later found the the bodies of Van Rootselaar's 39-year-old mother, Jennifer Jacobs, and 11-year-old half brother, Emmett Jacobs, at the family home in Tumbler Ridge.
Van Rootselaar, who was born a biological male, began transitioning and presenting as a female about six years ago, according to police. Approximately four years ago, she dropped out of school.
Police so far have no indication that Van Rootselaar experienced any bullying related to her transgender status.
The first warning signs that something was wrong with Van Rootselaar's mental state came in the summer last year, when she described a series of graphic scenarios involving gun violence to ChatGPT, according to a new report in The Wall Street Journal.
The concerning content was flagged by an automated review system and alarmed around a dozen employees at OpenAI, with some believing it indicated potential escalation into real-world violence.
Jesse Van Rootselaar, 18, shot and killed a 39-year-old female teacher, along with three girls and two boys aged between 12 and 13, according to police
Children were led out of the school after the shooting as authorities arrived on the scene
According to those familiar with the matter, several employees escalated the troubling content to leaders and urged them to alert Canadian law enforcement.
However, OpenAI decided against reporting Van Rootselaar to law enforcement.
An OpenAI spokesperson told the Journal that they banned her account, but decided her comments didn't meet the requirements for further escalation.
The company said in a statement to the outlet: 'Our thoughts are with everyone affected by the Tumbler Ridge tragedy.'
OpenAI claimed to train their software to discourage users from committing acts of real-world violence, and any indication of such behavior is directed to be reviewed by humans.
The company said escalating this kind of conduct to law enforcement is weighed against the risk of privacy concerns and the potential distress for the user and their family should police become unnecessarily involved.
