Jesse Van Rootselaar, 18, is suspected of fatally shooting six people and wounding 25 others at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School

The first pictures have emerged of the suspected school shooter since the deadly attack at a school in Canada.

Jesse Van Rootselaar, 18, is suspected of fatally shooting six people and wounding 25 others at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School in British Columbia, Canada, on Tuesday, February 10. A chilling picture has emerged of Jesse Van Rootselaar holding a rifle and smiling, shared by Australian news site news.com.au.

It is unclear how old the suspect was in the photograph.

The attack on Tuesday is the second-deadliest school shooting in Canadian history since 14 students were killed at Montreal’s L’Ecole Polytechnique in 1989.

Three 12-year-old girls, two boys aged 12 and 13, and a 39-year-old female teacher were killed at the Tumbler Ridge school, police said. Two others, a 39-year-old woman named Jennifer Strang and an 11-year-old boy were identified by police as Van Rootselaar’s mum and stepbrother. They were reportedly shot by Van Rootselaar before the attack on the school.

Authorities said Van Rootselaar, who identified as transgender and went by female pronouns, died by a self-inflicted gunshot on the school premises, bringing the death toll to nine.

Officers entered the school to locate the threat and within found the shooter deceased. The suspect was identified as Van Rootselaar, a resident of Tumbler Ridge.

Two firearms, a long gun and a modified handgun, were recovered.

Residents of Tumbler Ridge, a remote town of about 2,400 people in the foothills of the Rockies, were sent a text alert on Tuesday afternoon which is reported to have described the suspect as a “female in a dress with brown hair”.

Asked by reporters if Van Rootselaar was transgender, Deputy Commissioner McDonald said police were identifying 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,” he added.

Christopher Bennison, 33, of Outram Street, Middlesbrough, was spotted by police as he carried out drug transactions in the Outram Street area over two days in January.

He even carried out exchanges on his own doorstep, which led to officers carrying out his arrest at his home.

Christopher Bennison (Image: CLEVELAND POLICE)

In a video shared of his arrest, Cleveland Police officers can be seen forcing their way into Bennison’s house before finding him in the kitchen and arresting him.

Officers found a bowl of white powder in the kitchen cupboard, which was later confirmed to be crack cocaine, along with items linked with the preparation of crack cocaine, drug paraphernalia and several mobile phones.

Around £120 in cash was seized, and there were text messages on a phone mentioning drug supply.

Christopher Bennison is arrested (Image: CLEVELAND POLICE)

Bennison was arrested and later charged with possession with intent to supply a controlled drug of class A and being concerned in the supply of crack cocaine.

On Monday (February 9) at Teesside Crown Court, Bennison was sentenced to three years and four months in prison.

Following sentencing, Middlesbrough Proactive Team Sergeant John Sproson said: “Some of these offences were committed close to a children’s play area, placing children and other members of the public at potential risk and exposure to serious offences.

“We won’t tolerate this offending in our communities, and we continue to be proactive in tackling those who deal drugs in Middlesbrough and removing those drugs from our streets.

“Anyone who wishes to report drug activity in their local area can contact Cleveland Police on 101, or contact Crimestoppers anonymously online at www.crimestoppers-uk.org or by calling 0800555111.”

The period drama starring Ralph Fiennes has been added to Netflix this week, with fans calling it a ‘cinematic masterpiece’.

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Netflix has unveiled several thrilling new additions this week, including one that enthusiasts are labelling a “cinematic masterpiece”. The film, helmed by Wes Anderson, has been acclaimed as “perfect” by some critics and features an impressive cast.

This follows Netflix‘s announcement of some exciting releases arriving this week, disclosing on X that fans can anticipate Lisa McGee’s new series How to Get to Heaven from Belfast, the initial 10 seasons of Stargate SG-1, and numerous classic Wes Anderson films joining the archive.

However, one film particularly stands out due to its substantial fanbase and incredibly renowned cast, which includes Ralph Fiennes, Saoirse Ronan, Adrien Brody, Lea Seydoux, Willem Dafoe and Edward Norton.

The Grand Budapest Hotel, initially released in 2014, has captivated audiences over the years with its enchanting script, exceptional acting and stunning cinematography. The film, which holds an impressive 92% fresh score on Rotten Tomatoes, lands on Netflix today alongside the likes of Anderson’s The Royal Tenenbaums, The Darjeeling Limited and The French Dispatch, reports the Express.

The synopsis for The Grand Budapest Hotel reads: “In the 1930s, the Grand Budapest Hotel is a popular European ski resort, presided over by concierge Gustave H. (Ralph Fiennes). Zero, a junior lobby boy, becomes Gustave’s friend and protégé.

“Gustave prides himself on providing first-class service to the hotel’s guests, including satisfying the sexual needs of the many elderly women who stay there. When one of Gustave’s lovers dies mysteriously, Gustave finds himself the recipient of a priceless painting and the chief suspect in her murder.”

Enthusiasts have made the effort to share their admiration for the film on the review aggregator platform, with one stating: “An utter delight of a film that I continue to revisit on a regular basis. It might actually be Wes Anderson’s best movie, which is saying quite a lot.”

A second commented: “Probably one of my all-time favourite movies! Well-designed visuals with beautiful execution, fantastic casting, very moving story AND music…what else can I say?”.

“This has been by far the absolute highlight of Wes’s career and he probably will never be able to top this masterpiece. Well done to the whole cast and crew!”.

Another concurred: “Masterpiece! Lost count of how many times I saw it. Incredible journey through a weird and wonderful story, fascinating all the way. Quirky and sophisticated at the same time.

“Unique in so many ways, the cinematography is something else. The whole cast really shines in character. Fast moving, lots of twists and turns, unpredictable, highly entertaining. Just love it..

“Absolute gem. Wes Anderson at his best,” a fourth remarked, whilst another gushed: “Love it! Wildly entertaining. Great cast!” One admirer succinctly labelled it as “perfect”, while another declared: “It is a cinematic masterpiece.”

The Grand Budapest Hotel will be available to stream on Netflix today, February 12.

Sandra Horsfield, at Investec Economics, said: “The big picture is that the UK economy had defied the gloomy popular narrative and outperformed expectations during 2025 – our forecast equates to GDP growth of 1.4% for the full year, whereas the consensus forecast in January 2025 had been for 1.2% GDP growth.

The fitness enthusiast previously shared her tips for eating fast food while trying to shed pounds

Calorie counting, ditching carbs, and piling your plate high with greens are often part of a ‘typical’ weight-loss diet. But what if you’re craving a McDonald’s?

One fat-loss coach has suggested that eating meals from the popular fast-food chain may actually help you shed pounds, provided you stick to other strict rules. In 2024, she explained her perspective in a brief Instagram video and stressed that it won’t require swapping burgers for salads.

At the time, Rosi May said: “This is how you lose weight by eating McDonald’s and don’t worry, I’m not about to tell you to swap your burger for a salad because nobody’s going to Maccies for a salad.”

She then added: “And I’m not going to expect you to change your beef burger to a plain chicken burger, I am going to show you some like-for-like swaps that you can make. If you watch my videos, then you know by now that when it comes to losing weight, you need to be in a calorie deficit.”

Rosie said that shedding pounds shouldn’t mean sacrificing tasty treats, highlighting how straightforward substitutions can slash over 500 calories from your order. Whilst 500 calories might sound modest, she insisted it adds up to 1lb across seven days and 52lb over 12 months.

She continued: “Meal number one, we have large fries, a Double Quarter Pounder with cheese and a large full fake Coke. Altogether, this meal comes in at 1,385 calories, which for most people is a big chunk of their daily calories.

“So, how can you still enjoy a McDonald’s but at much lower calories? The easiest swap to make is switching a full-fat Coke to a Coke Zero or a Diet Coke, which means that you save 212 calories. And to be honest, I think it tastes better.”

Following that, Rosi downgraded her large serving of chips to a medium-sized portion. Usually, large helpings contain roughly 444kcal whilst medium fries clock in at 337kcal – slashing over 100 calories.

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“And then finally, you switch your double Quarter Pounder with cheese to a double cheeseburger,” she added. “Altogether this will save you over 500 calories and you still get to have a double cheeseburger, fries and a drink. But it doesn’t take up all your calories for the day.

“And that way you can still enjoy things like McDonald’s whilst you’re on a weight loss journey. But it doesn’t have to be boring, you just have to get clever with it.”

Rosi’s clip sparked a flood of enthusiastic responses on Instagram, with numerous people revealing they’d employed comparable tactics. At the time, one person wrote: “Love this!! I’ve lost 50lbs and now in the mindset of ‘eat what you want, add what you need’. Having a maccies for tea and making sure I prioritise high protein at breakfast & lunch.”

Another added: “When I was a teen, I was a little chubby. I ate McDonalds everyday but limited my calories to 1000/day and I lost a lb a day. A lot of people don’t understand that you can eat anything you want and lose weight, as long as you burn more calories than what you take in.”

What do you think? Let us know in the comment section below

The Hindu community will be forced to find a new place of worship

Peterborough City Council’s ruling cabinet has agreed to sell the New England Complex, home of the city’s Bharat Hindu Samaj Hindu temple.

At its monthly Cabinet meeting last night (February 10), councillors agreed to authorise the disposal of the Council’s freehold interest in the much-used Millfield complex.

The council believes the sale will help its attempts to balance its budget. However, the proposed sale of the property will mean the Hindu community who have used the temple for 40 years will be forced to find a new place of worship.

The meeting was attended by supporters of Bharat Hindu Samaj, which itself tabled a bid of £1.3m as part of the bidding process.

Campaigners were hopeful the initial decision to sell the complex made by Cabinet last December would be reversed following fervent appeals by city councillors and the Hindu community. Indeed, the reason this item had been sent back to Cabinet for re-evaluation was due to campaigners convincing the council’s Sustainable Future Scrutiny Committee to call in that initial decision last month.

Vishal Vichare was one of those supporters who attended. He asked the Cabinet: “Why has the council relied solely on financial value when it will have been entitled to balance social value against financial value?”

Councillor Mohammed Jamil (Lab), the Cabinet Member for Finance and Corporate Governance, replied directly: “As part of the bidding process, social value was taken into account and officers from our property board came up with the decision that they did in the manner that they did.”

John Howard, the Conservative councillor for Hargate & Hempsted was invited to address the Cabinet on the matter on behalf of his party leader, Cllr Wayne Fitzgerald.

Cllr Howard sought assurance from Cabinet that the needs of the 13,500 Hindus from across Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Lincolnshire who currently use the New England Complex would be accommodated before the new owners took over the complex: “It would be really unforgivable to ask one body to remove another body when it’s a long-standing tenant,” he said, adding “We have a moral obligation, I feel, to make sure that move happens first.”

When eventually asked for a show of hands, the Cabinet agreed to the recommendation to authorise the disposal of the Council’s freehold interest in the New England Complex “with the benefit of the additional and original detail to the preferred bidder”, subject to “appropriate transitional provisions for existing tenants.”

At this point, supporters of Bharat Hindu Samaj left the council’s Sand Martin House HQ, en-masse.

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service following the meeting’s conclusion, Cllr Jamil said: “I fully understand their disappointment,” he said,”but let’s turn this disappointment into something where we can work together.

“The council has offered its services to working with the [Hindu] community to find another building. We will work with them and I’m sure we will be able to accommodate them.”

Eight people have been killed in one of Canada’s deadliest mass shootings, which also left the attacker dead.

Police have now shared more details about the shooting in Tumbler Ridge, a small town with a population of just 2,400, in British Columbia on Tuesday.

Here’s what we know so far.

What do we know about the suspect?

The attacker has been identified by police as 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar, Deputy Commissioner Dwayne McDonald said at a news conference on Wednesday.

He said the suspect, from Tumbler Ridge, identified as female but was born a biological male, and began to transition around six years ago.

The suspect was found at the scene with a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

The deputy commissioner added that Van Rootselaar was not currently attending Tumbler Ridge Secondary School and had dropped out about four years ago.

“Police had attended that (family) residence on multiple occasions over the past several years, dealing with concerns of mental health with respect to our suspect,” Mr McDonald added.

A public alert sent to phones initially described the shooter as “a female in a dress with brown hair”.

Police superintendent Ken Floyd earlier said the suspect’s motive remained unclear and that authorities are “not in a place to understand why or what may have motivated this tragedy”.

Suspect’s mother among those killed

Police said they received a report of an active shooter at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School, which has around 175 students, at 1.20pm on Tuesday (8.20pm UK time).

When officers entered and searched the school, they found multiple victims dead.

An individual believed to be the attacker was also found dead with what appeared to be a self‑inflicted injury.

At the school, police said those killed were a 39-year-old female teacher, three 12-year-old female students, and two male students aged 12 and 13.

They said two further victims, a 39-year-old female and an 11-year-old male, were found at a local home.

When questioned by reporters, police said the 39-year-old was the mother of the suspect, with the 11-year-old thought to be their brother or step-brother.

The attacker’s family members were killed first, before the school shootings.

Initial reports claimed another victim died while on the way to hospital, but Deputy Commissioner Dwayne McDonald said that “a female with significant injuries” survived the shooting.

Overnight, police said approximately 25 others were being assessed for non‑life‑threatening injuries.

Children ‘barricaded themselves’ as parents waited for news

Children who were at the school at the time were frantically trying to barricade themselves in their classrooms as the attack unfolded, according to local reports.

Citing the reports, Sky News’ international correspondent John Sparks said: “They were putting desks and chairs up against the doors, trying to keep the shooter out of their classroom.”

There were also “desperate scenes” in the town of Tumbler Ridge during the attack, Sparks added.

“Parents were shepherded to a local hall to await news of whether their children were affected by this.

“In a tight-knit community like this, it’s very difficult for the people who live there.”

‘I probably know every victim’

Canadians in the small town, located more than 600 miles north of Vancouver, near the border with Alberta, are grieving after the tragedy.

Darryl Krakowka, mayor of Tumbler Ridge, told reporters: “I broke down. It’s devastating.”

He described the town’s small community as a “big family” and added: “I have lived here for 18 years. I probably know every one of the victims.”

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney offered his “prayers and deepest condolences” to the families and friends of the victims after the “horrific” attack.

“I join Canadians in grieving with those whose lives have been changed irreversibly today, and in gratitude for the courage and selflessness of the first responders who risked their lives to protect their fellow citizens,” he said in a statement.

“Our ability to come together in crisis is the best of our country – our empathy, our unity, and our compassion for each other.”

The premier of British Columbia, David Eby, added: “Our hearts are in Tumbler Ridge tonight with the families of those who have lost loved ones.

“Government will ensure every possible support for community members in the coming days, as we all try to come to terms with this unimaginable tragedy.”

The school has said it will be closed for the rest of the week.

What are the gun laws in Canada?

While its neighbour has some of the most relaxed firearms legislation in the world, Canadian laws are much stricter.

Anyone wanting to possess a firearm in Canada needs to obtain a possession and acquisition licence (PAL).

Some types of firearm – such as handguns – need a restricted possession and acquisition licence (RPAL), which is issued by police.

In 2022, the government introduced a freeze on the importing, buying or selling of handguns.

A previous mass shooting in Nova Scotia in April 2020, in which an attacker killed 22 people, prompted the government to announce an immediate ban on the sale and use of assault-style weapons.

Justin Trudeau, then the prime minister, announced the ban of more than 1,500 models and variants of assault-style firearms, including two guns used by the 2020 gunman as well as the AR-15 and other weapons that have been used in a number of mass shootings in the US.

But almost six years later, possession of such firearms is not illegal – yet.

A compensation programme in which gun owners register their interest in turning in these firearms in exchange for cash runs until the end of March this year.

Owners have until the end of October to hand over any banned assault weapons.

After this, anyone in possession “will be breaking the law and could face criminal prosecution”, government briefing documents say.

It has not yet been made public what type of firearm or firearms were used in the most recent attack.