Suspect Named in One of Canada's Worst Mass Killings

The suspect in one of the worst mass shootings in Canadian history has been named as 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said the teen killed her 39-mother and 11-year-old stepbrother at a residence in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, on Tuesday before killing six others at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School, the New York Times reports. RCMP Deputy Commissioner Dwayne McDonald said the victims found dead there included a female teacher, 39; three girls, all 12 years old; and two boys, one 12 and one 13, the CBC reports. He said one victim was found in a hallway and the others in the school's library.

McDonald updated the death toll, saying nine people had been killed, including the shooter, not 10 as the RCMP earlier said, CTV News reports. He said a female victim with serious injuries was reported as having died on the way to receive medical care, but she is still alive. At least 25 others were injured, according to the RCMP. "Jesse was born as a biological male who approximately six years ago began to transition to female," McDonald said, per the BBC. He said the RCMP "identified the suspect as they chose to be identified in public and social media." The RCMP said Van Rootselaar died of a self-inflicted wound.

McDonald said the suspect and her family were already known to authorities. Officers had been called to the home several times in recent years over mental health concerns involving the suspect, he said, and had seized firearms during one visit. He said Van Rootselaar dropped out of the Tumbler Ridge school around four years ago and there is no information to suggest anybody at the school was specifically targeted. At the school, police recovered a long gun and a modified handgun. McDonald said investigators don't have a clear idea of a motive yet, but it's something they are "passionately pursuing."

Tumbler Ridge is a remote community of about 2,400 people near the Alberta border. "This morning, families in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, woke to a different world," Prime Minister Mark Carney told Parliament, noting that some parents who sent children to school on Tuesday "will never be able to hug their children again." Carney described Tumbler Ridge as a town of miners, teachers, construction workers, and families who "have always shown up for each other" through crises, and said the community represents "the very best of Canada: resilient, compassionate, and strong."