When reports first emerged that Springvalley Middle School had gone into lockdown in Kelowna, British Columbia, and a youth had been arrested, the public was left with the impression that it was a frightening but relatively minor event.

RCMP initially described what occurred as "suspicious circumstances" at the school, and media reports suggested a student had suffered little more than a superficial scratch from a dull kitchen knife.

But after weeks of investigation, I’ve uncovered a far more disturbing account.

https://rcmp.ca/en/bc/kelowna/news/2026/05/4353419

Family members and others close to some of the victims claim four girls were impacted by the traumatic event, where an intruder believed to identify as transgender, terrorized the girls in and around the girls' washroom while declaring, "I need to kill someone today."

In today's report, I speak with the parents of one of the victims, who describe the horror their 11-year-old daughter went through.

"They stabbed our daughter in the back and said to the children, 'I need to kill someone today,' proceeded to push the other children and push our child against the wall and continue to hit her continuously in the face and the head and the chest."

The child's mother and father, whom we are not identifying to protect the identities of the youths involved, say it wasn't until a friend yelled her name that the attack shifted.

“This person then grabbed her wrist and gave her scratch wounds on her arms that drew blood, and all her bracelets were broken, and then they were able to get away and find a teacher."

Adding salt to the wounds for the family is both how little support they say they received initially, including being called and told to come get their child instead of the school calling an ambulance to provide immediate medical care, and the "mere scratch" narrative that was fed to the public in an already widely underreported story.

"The fact that they did not do their due diligence to check on my child's well-being after being stabbed... everything they went about, they dropped the ball and it was not okay. Things need to change," the girl's mother told Rebel News.

"There was an attacker. There were children. There were injuries," her father said. "Don't lie in the media. Stop trying to sweep it under the rug."

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The parents also described weeks of frustration trying to obtain basic answers from both the school and authorities, saying repeated emails went largely unanswered until they unexpectedly returned to the school themselves.

Those frustrations mirror those raised by families in the rural community of Falkland, B.C., located about two hours away.

A concerned grandmother also joined me in this report to discuss how parents had to take the matter of school safety into their own hands after a troubled youth's kill list targeting students was discovered.

The youth was still living across from and walking around an elementary school they were expected to trust sending their children and grandchildren to.

These events, the Springvalley Middle School attack, the Falkland kill list, and the tragic Tumbler Ridge school massacre resulting in the deaths of eight, mostly young people, all taking place this year in B.C., show that public awareness and attention to the topic of school safety is an important matter of public interest.

Lori-Ann describes how, despite the potential threat, the reasonable uncertainty, and the nearest police detachment being 30 minutes away, no RCMP officers or security personnel were assigned to keep watch for a reasonable period during school hours.

"It shouldn't have to take a tragedy for things to change," said the father.

Bringing this story, the real story, to light wasn't an easy task. In addition to digging for on-camera and off-camera statements from those close to the victims, I had to navigate publication bans under the Youth Criminal Justice Act that, even now, prevent me from disclosing much of the ordeal.

To ensure the other side of this important story could be told, the victims' experiences could be validated, and enough awareness could hopefully be raised to create meaningful school safety policy changes, Rebel News sought legal assistance through the Independent Press Gallery.

The non-profit, which protects freedom of the press through donor support, retained Kyle Bienvenu of Hira Rowan LLP to provide legal advice throughout portions of my investigation.

According to the BC Prosecution Service, the youth apprehended in the Springvalley attack now faces seven charges: two counts of assault with a weapon, three counts of assault, one count of uttering threats, and one count of possessing a weapon for a dangerous purpose.

The case remains before the courts, and because the accused is a youth, much of the evidence and proceedings remain protected from publication.