Canadian death toll in massacre rises to four

A model with two young sons and a restaurant employee about to be promoted to manager are among the Canadians confirmed dead in a mass shooting at a country music show in Las Vegas.

Tara Roe Smith, who was 34 and lived in Okotoks, Alta., was there with her husband, Zach, and another couple for a weekend getaway, her aunt Val Rodgers said Tuesday.

“They were there just to have a good time and to enjoy a concert.”

Rodgers said Roe Smith died when a gunman opened fire from the window of a hotel on Sunday night. Nearly 60 people were killed and hundreds were injured.

“She was a beautiful soul,” Rodgers said from her home in Brandon, Man. “She was a wonderful mother and our family is going to miss her dearly.”

Roe Smith worked with Calgary modelling agency Sophia Models International for 10 years, said owner Bill Giofu.

“She was always a friendly face when she came in to see us at the agency, a very caring spirit,” he said.

Roe Smith also worked as an educational assistant at the Foothills School Division.

“We have put our crisis response team in place and they will remain as long as is needed to assist students and staff,” John Bailey, superintendent of schools, said in a statement.

Lyndsay Perham’s childhood friend, Calla Medig, was also shot at the Route 91 Harvest Festival. Going to Las Vegas for the festival had become an annual tradition for the country music fan, Perham said.

“She was a very loyal friend. We always had fun together,” said Perham, who grew up with Medig in Jasper. “We had a very tight-knit group of girls and we just did everything together growing up.”

Medig, 28, was with her best friend when she was shot, Perham said. The friend managed to get Medig to a hospital, where she died.

Another Alberta woman, Jessica Klymchuk, was identified as one of the shooting victims on Monday.

Klymchuk was a mother of four who lived in the northwestern Alberta town of Valleyview, where she worked as an educational assistant, librarian and bus driver at an area Catholic school.

“Jessica was an amazing mother who worked to provide her children with as best a life as she could,” Noella Marie wrote on the GoFundMe page, adding Klymchuk was engaged to the “love of her life,” Brent Irla.

Another Canadian victim, Jordan McIldoon, would have turned 24 on Friday and was a month shy of completing a course to qualify as a heavy-duty mechanic.

His parents, Alan and Angela, said he grew up on a rural property in Maple Ridge and loved the outdoors.

“Our son Jordan was a compassionate young man who lived a life full of adventures,” they said in a statement. “From a young age, he was fearless.”

They recalled finding him perched on the barn roof when he was two and seeing him leap into the deep end of a lake before he could swim.

He loved hockey, snowboarding and doing tricks on his bike.