TUMBLER RIDGE, B.C. — The chilling silhouette behind Canada’s deadliest school shooting in decades now has a name.
On Wednesday, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) identified Jesse Van Rootselaar, 18, as the suspect who systematically executed nine people—including her own mother and stepbrother—before turning the gun on herself. The revelation, delivered in a somber afternoon press conference by Deputy Commissioner Dwayne McDonald, has provided a name to the horror but left a grieving nation struggling to understand the “why.”
“We believe the suspect acted alone,” McDonald told reporters. “This was a premeditated path of violence that began in a private home and ended in the halls of a secondary school. There are no words for this level of devastation.”
A Premeditated Path of Violence
Investigators have now stitched together the timeline of Van Rootselaar’s final hours. The rampage began at the family’s residence, where police say she shot and killed her 39-year-old mother and her 11-year-old stepbrother.
By the time those bodies were discovered, Van Rootselaar had already traveled to Tumbler Ridge Secondary School. At 1:20 p.m., she entered the building armed with two firearms—a long gun and a handgun—despite having no registered weapons and an expired license.
The ensuing minutes were a chaotic blur of “active gunfire.” Police arriving on the scene were met with immediate shots fired in their direction. Inside, they found a massacre concentrated in the library and a stairwell:
- One adult female educator, 39.
- Five students: Three girls, aged 12; one boy, aged 12; and one boy, aged 13.
- The Suspect: Van Rootselaar was found dead from a self-inflicted wound.
A History of Intervention
As the community of 2,400 seeks answers, the RCMP revealed that Van Rootselaar was not a stranger to local law enforcement. Police had attended the family residence “on multiple occasions” over the past several years to deal with the suspect’s deteriorating mental health.
On several instances, she had been apprehended for assessment under the Mental Health Act. Most significantly, Deputy Commissioner McDonald confirmed that two years ago, firearms were seized from the home under the Criminal Code. However, the “lawful owner” of those weapons—whose identity was not disclosed—later petitioned for their return, and they were released back into the household.
“The investigation into how she accessed these weapons today is our highest priority,” McDonald said.
Identity and Ideology
The naming of the suspect has also sparked a sensitive conversation regarding her identity. The RCMP clarified that Van Rootselaar, who dropped out of the school four years ago, was born a biological male but had transitioned and identified as female, both socially and publicly, for approximately six years.
While some online speculation has sought to link the shooting to political or gender-based motives, police emphasized that they have found “no note or other communication” left behind. For now, the motive remains as obscured as the snowy peaks surrounding the town.
A Nation in Mourning
From the House of Commons, Prime Minister Mark Carney addressed the tragedy for the second time in 24 hours. “All of Canada stands with Tumbler Ridge,” he said, his voice thick with emotion. “We join the entire nation in grieving for these children and their teacher.”
In the foothills of the Rockies, the focus has shifted to the 27 injured survivors and the hundreds of families left to process a trauma that has forever altered their quiet mountain enclave. As the police tape remains stretched across the school doors, Tumbler Ridge is no longer known for its coal mines or its peace, but as the site of an unimaginable American-style tragedy on Canadian soil.