Good morning. After a mass shooting shattered the tiny community of Tumbler Ridge, more information has helped shed light on how events unfolded. Below, we have more on the victims, and from our reporters on the ground.

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Hello, I’m Marsha Lederman, writing from Vancouver – a city in mourning, along with the rest of the province and the country.

Prime Minister Mark Carney and the other federal leaders will be in Tumbler Ridge, B.C., today to join the devastated community for a memorial for the victims of this week’s shootings. We now know more about those victims and, brace yourself, it’s shattering. On Thursday afternoon, RCMP released their names as well as some photos – each revelation, every detail, a punch in the gut.

The puffy ski jacket on 12-year-old Abel Mwansa. A smiling 13-year-old Ezekiel Schofield, standing in front of shelves filled with the bric-a-brac of family life – a mug, baskets, a pair of cowboy boots.

Kylie Smith, 12, whose big eyes, layered necklaces and wild hair seemed to match her ambitions: Her dream was to go to art school in the big city of Toronto, a family statement said. Zoey Benoit, another 12-year-old, with her sparkly pink braces and big smile was described by her family as “so resilient, vibrant, smart, caring and the strongest little girl you could meet.”

Another 12-year-old victim, Ticaria Lampert, was remembered by her mother as a blazing light, an Energizer Bunny, a “Tiki Torch” – one of her nicknames, along with Tiki. “She was born to love and to create peace and harmony,” Sarah Lampert said in a tearful media conference. “She was a Tiki Torch powered by love and happiness; she rarely knew fear. Innocence should have been her name.” Ms. Lampert said her daughter did not have any future plans. “She was content living in the moment. She was in no hurry to grow up. She is forever my baby.”

The 39-year-old educator who was killed at the school has been identified as Shannda Aviugana-Durand.

The half-brother of the shooter was 11-year-old Emmett Jacobs, whose stylish haircut against his boyish face in the photo released by police suggests a child eager to grow into a teenager. The shooter’s mother was identified as 39-year-old Jennifer Jacobs. She was also known as Jennifer Strang.

Even in the face of these horrors, the community, reeling, has responded with warmth to media descending on the tiny place. “Most people here are super welcoming, even if they don’t want to talk to reporters,” Alanna Smith, one of several Globe and Mail journalists in Tumbler Ridge this week, told me Thursday afternoon. The wind gusts behind her were audible, so strong even some of the teddy bears placed at the memorial site outside the school were being blown around, she told me. “I feel like people are really coming together.”

Canadian politicians are also coming together, with unity and even interparty warmth, with Carney travelling to Tumbler Ridge along with Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, NDP interim leader Don Davies and Green Party Leader Elizabeth May – the latter two of whom represent B.C. ridings – and Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet, who in the House of Commons on Wednesday offered condolences uncharacteristically in English (as well as French).

We’re also seeing an unusual display of authentic human emotion from politicians, along with the dropping of partisan rhetoric – whether it was Carney’s teary eyes as he spoke the morning after the shooting, or B.C. Premier David Eby choking up Wednesday evening after attending a vigil in Tumbler Ridge. “It’s horrifying and inspirational at the same time,” Eby said, making note of those who have helped in the worst circumstances. On Thursday, the B.C. Legislature altered its usual Throne Speech to instead pay tribute to the victims and helpers.

“As a mother, it’s absolutely impossible to comprehend the pain and the sorrow that people are experiencing,” Lieutenant-Governor Wendy Cocchia said. “Nobody thinks for a moment that you will send your child or your loved one off in the morning and that they will not return.”

She noted that Tumbler Ridge Mayor Darryl Krakowka, when asked how people can help, has repeatedly suggested that they can provide hugs. Even media can offer hugs, Krakowka had said after Wednesday’s vigil. “You know, hugs help that grieving stage.”

Reporters may forgo physical embraces, but if words can be hugs, Globe and Mail journalists on the ground and across the country are sending theirs as they work to cover this horrible story with respect, compassion and humanity.

Canada’s athletes lifted our national spirits when they were down – way down. Every medal tastes a little sweeter in these bitter times for our country. Canadian hockey teams dominate after the men beat Czechia 5-0 and the women trounced Finland 5-0. On the slopes, Mikaël Kingsbury earned a silver in men’s moguls, missing gold by a hair on a technicality. For our latest Olympics coverage, please go to tgam.ca/olympics-daily.