Jesse Van Rootselaar, 18, is believed to be behind the deadly attack
The first pictures have emerged of the suspected school shooter in one of Canada’s deadliest mass shootings.
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.
The attack is the second-deadliest school shooting in Canadian history after 14 students were killed at Montreal’s L’Ecole Polytechnique in 1989.
A chilling photograph, shared by Australian news site news.com.au, shows Van Rootselaar smiling and holding a rifle. It is unclear how old Van Rootselaar was in the photograph.
Those killed at the school include three 12-year-old girls, two boys aged 12 and 13, and a 39-year-old female teacher, 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 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.
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 with instructions to shelter in place due to an active shooter. The Mirror reported that the alert described the suspect as a “female in a dress with brown hair”.
Officers entered the school to locate the threat and within found the shooter deceased. He said the suspect has been identified as Van Rootselaar, a resident of Tumbler Ridge.
Two firearms, a long gun and a modified handgun, were recovered.
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.