Tumbler Ridge school shooting: police identify suspect in Canada attack as 18-year-old local resident – as it happened

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Closing summary

We’re now pausing our live coverage of the Tumbler Ridge shootings that left nine dead yesterday.

Earlier today, the Canadian prime minister, Mark Carney, told the remote British Columbia community that “all of Canada stands with you” in an address to parliament that followed a minute’s silence in memory of the victims of one of the country’s deadliest mass shootings.

In the days ahead, there will be “important questions” and “difficult conversations” to have, Carney said, but for now it’s time for grieving and remembrance.

Here’s a brief recap of what we learned from police today about the victims, the suspect, and how the country’s worst mass shooting in decades came to pass.

• Police revised the death toll down to nine people, including the suspect, after a female victim with significant injuries survived (she remains in critical condition).

• A 39-year-old found deceased at the suspect’s family residence was the mother of the suspect, and the 11-year-old victim was the suspect’s step-brother.

• The deaths at the private residence occurred first before the suspect went to the high school.

• Police were called to the home after they had been called to the school, by a female youth who is related to the suspect and victims.

• Those killed at the school were a 39-year-old teacher, three 12-year-old female students and two male students aged 12 and 13. One victim was found in the stairwell, and the others were located in the school’s library.

• Two firearms were recovered at the scene – a long gun and a modified handgun. Police are still working to determine their origins and role in the incident.

• The suspect had a firearms license that had expired in 2024 and did not currently have any firearms registered to her.

• The suspect had dropped out of Tumbler Ridge secondary school about four years ago and was not currently a student there.

• There is no information at this point to suggest that any of the victims in the school were specifically targeted.

• Police had attended the suspect’s family residence on multiple occasions over the past several years, dealing with mental health concerns of the suspect.

• This included one police attendance to the home approximately two years ago where firearms were seized under the criminal code. The lawful owner of those firearms petitioned for them to be returned, and they were.

• The suspect was born as a biological male who had started transitioning about six years ago and identified in public and on social media as female.

• The suspect is believed to have acted alone.

• Police don’t yet have an idea as to what the suspect’s motive was.

How common are shootings like these in Canada?

Mass shootings in Canada are rare, particularly compared with the neighbouring United States. Analysts have long pointed to Canada’s stricter gun laws, which make it difficult to own handguns or “assault-style weapons”, to explain the difference.

Yesterday’s attack is the second deadliest school shooting in Canadian history, behind a 1989 tragedy that saw a 25-year-old man claiming to be “anti-feminist” burst into a Montreal school. He killed 13 female students and a secretary before taking his own life.

The country’s deadliest shooting took place in 2020, when a man disguised as a police officer went on a shooting and arson rampage in the eastern province of Nova Scotia, killing 22 people.

The government later banned 1,500 models of assault weapons in response to the attack.

The area around Tumbler Ridge secondary school remains cordoned off 24 hours later, as the police investigation into one of Canada’s deadliest mass shootings continues.

Crime scene tape surrounds the high school where a deadly mass shooting took place, in the town of Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia. Photograph: Jennifer Gauthier/Reuters

Here is our story from my colleagues Leyland Cecco in Toronto and Oliver Holmes:

What we learned from the police briefing on the Tumbler Ridge shootings

Deputy commissioner Dwayne McDonald confirmed that police have identified the suspect as 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar, who was a resident of Tumbler Ridge.

• Police revised the death toll down to nine people, including the suspect, after a female victim with significant injuries survived (she remains in critical condition).

• A 39-year-old found deceased at the suspect’s family residence was the mother of the suspect, and the 11-year-old victim was the suspect’s step-brother.

• The deaths at the private residence occurred first before the suspect went to the high school.

• Police were called to the home after they had been called to the school, by a female youth who is related to the suspect and victims.

• Those killed at the school were a 39-year-old teacher, three 12-year-old female students and two male students aged 12 and 13. One victim was found in the stairwell, and the others were located in the school’s library.

• Two firearms were recovered at the scene – a long gun and a modified handgun. Police are still working to determine their origins and role in the incident.

• The suspect had a firearms license that had expired in 2024 and did not currently have any firearms registered to her.

• The suspect had dropped out of Tumbler Ridge secondary school about four years ago and was not currently a student there.

• There is no information at this point to suggest that any of the victims in the school were specifically targeted.

• Police had attended the suspect’s family residence on multiple occasions over the past several years, dealing with mental health concerns of the suspect.

• This included one police attendance to the home approximately two years ago where firearms were seized under the criminal code. The lawful owner of those firearms petitioned for them to be returned, and they were.

• The suspect was born as a biological male who had started transitioning about six years ago and identified in public and on social media as female.

• The suspect is believed to have acted alone.

• Police don’t yet have an idea as to what the suspect’s motive was.

McDonald clarifies that those found dead at the school were a female teacher, 39, three girls, all 12, and two boys – one 12 and one 13.

The victims found at the family home were a 39-year-old woman believed to be the suspect’s mother and an 11-year-old boy believed to be the suspect’s step-brother.

And that concludes the police briefing.

McDonald says the student victims were “quite young”, with most born in 2012 and 2013, which would make their ages between 12 or 14.

Police were still notifying their families, he says.

He adds that there is no information at this point to suggest that any of the victims in the school were specifically targeted.

The majority of those who were injured did not sustain gunshot wounds, he says.

McDonald also clarifies that police did not get to the suspect’s home until about 2.45pm on Tuesday.

A young female relative at the home went to a neighbour’s house and the neighbour called police, he says.

The deaths at the home occurred first, before the suspect went to the high school, he adds.

Asked where in the school the victims were killed, McDonald says that one victim was found dead in the stairwell, and the others were located in the school’s library.

McDonald says they “don’t have an idea yet” as to what the suspect’s motive was, and it is too early to speculate.

McDonald says that the suspect had dropped out of Tumbler Ridge secondary school about four years ago and was not a current student.

Suspect did not have any firearms registered to her, police say

Asked when police were last in contact with the suspect, McDonald says it was some time last year, and confirms that they were not in contact with her in the last few days.

Asked if the suspect had a gun licence, the deputy commissioner says:

I believe she had a licence which had expired in 2024, she did not have any firearms registered to her.

Suspect identified as female 'socially and publicly', police confirm

Asked why the police haven’t identified the suspect as being transgender, McDonald says police have identified the suspect as “they chose to be identified in public and in social media”.

I can say that Jesse was born as a biological male who approximately six years ago began to transition to female and identified as female, both socially and publicly.

McDonald is asked for more detail about police visits to the suspect’s family home.

He says police had attended the residence on multiple occasions over the past several years, dealing with mental health concerns of the suspect.

The suspect was apprehended on different occasions for assessment and follow-up under the Mental Health Act, he says.

Asked if any of the interactions the suspect had with police had anything to do with weapons, McDonald replies “yes”.

The deputy commissioner says police have attended the residence in the past, approximately two years ago, where “firearms were seized under the criminal code”.

He adds that the lawful owner of those firearms petitioned for them to be returned, and they were.

Two people found dead at local residence were suspect's mother and step-brother, police confirm

McDonald confirms that the two victims who were found at a local residence were related to the suspect and it was the address where the suspect lived.

The adult female victim is the suspect’s mother, he says, and the male youth is the suspect’s step-brother.

Taking questions from reporters, McDonald is asked to expand on what they know about the suspect.

He says that the suspect identified as an 18-year-old female, by the name of Jesse.

There is a history of police attendance at the suspect’s family residence, he says, with some calls related to mental health issues.

Police believe suspect acted alone

Regarding speculation around the relationship between the shooter and the victims, McDonald says police are not in a position to publicly confirm any specifics at this time.

Additional resources have been deployed to the area, he says, adding that there are currently no other outstanding suspects as the suspect is believed to have acted alone.

Victims include five students and one adult female educator, police confirm

McDonald clarifies that nine people in total are deceased as a result of this incident.

Initially, it was believed that one of the victims, who had significant injuries and was one of the two airlifted to hospital, had succumbed to her injuries. Police have since confirmed that she is alive, McDonald says.

Both of those victims that were airlifted to hospital remain in serious condition, he says.

“The deceased victims from the school include an adult female educator, three female students and two male students between the ages of 13 and 17,” McDonald confirms.

“Two additional victims – an adult female and a male youth – were located deceased in a local residence,” he says.