An 18-year-old transgender woman killed eight people, including her mother and five students, in a remote Canadian mining town before taking her own life
TUMBLER RIDGE: Canadian police have identified an 18-year-old as the perpetrator of a mass shooting in a remote mining town.
The shooter killed eight people, including her mother, stepbrother, and five students at a local high school, before taking her own life.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police deputy commissioner Dwayne McDonald said the motive for Tuesday’s attack remains unknown. He confirmed the shooter, Jesse Van Rootselaar, was known to have mental health issues.
Van Rootselaar, a transgender woman who was born biologically male, had dropped out of the targeted high school four years ago.
Officers had previously made multiple visits to her home in response to mental health calls.
Police found six people dead inside the town’s high school. The victims were a 39-year-old female teacher and five students—three 12-year-old girls and two boys aged 13 and 12.
The shooter was armed with a long-barreled gun and a pistol. She was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound after the massacre.
McDonald stated the shooter had previously held a firearms license which had lapsed. Weapons had been confiscated from her residence in the past but were subsequently returned.
The killings at the family home were discovered after another family member alerted neighbors. Flags will be lowered nationwide to half-staff for seven days following the tragedy.
Prime Minister Mark Carney said the event has left the nation in shock and mourning. “These children and their teachers bore witness to unheard of cruelty,” he said in an emotional address to parliament.
Carney described Tumbler Ridge as a tough, blue-collar community of miners, teachers, and construction workers. The town of about 2,400 residents lies hundreds of kilometers from any major city.
“We’re one big family here,” Mayor Darryl Krakowka told public broadcaster CBC. Pastor George Rowe of the local Fellowship Church said it was “very, very difficult to deal with” in such a close-knit community.
Britain’s King Charles, the monarch of Canada, said he and Queen Camilla were “profoundly shocked and saddened” by the attack. The Prime Minister cancelled a planned trip to the Munich Security Conference.
School shootings remain rare in Canada compared to the neighboring United States. This tragedy ranks among the country’s deadliest in recent history.
Area schools will remain closed for the rest of the week. The community is now focused on coming together and supporting the families affected by the violence.
