Here's the latest
• Police have identified the suspect in the shootings that left at least eight dead and dozens wounded at a school and home in northeast British Columbia, Canada, on Tuesday. The suspect is an 18-year-old and resident of the area who was found dead at the scene with a self-inflicted injury. Authorities are still investigating a motive.
• Six of the victims were found dead at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School, making it Canada’s deadliest school shooting in decades, police said. The bodies of two people – the suspect’s relatives – were found at a home in the town, which has just 2,400 people. Victims also included several students and a teacher, police said. Authorities revised the death toll to eight this afternoon, saying one of the victims who was thought to have died from injuries survived.
• Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has told people in Tumbler Ridge “the nation mourns with you.” Mass shootings are rare in Canada, a country with much stricter gun laws than the US.
Here's what we know about the alleged shooter in British Columbia
Police identified the alleged shooter in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, as Jesse Van Rootselaar, an 18-year-old female resident of the town who had “dropped out of school approximately four years ago.”
Van Rootselaar “was not currently attending school,” Deputy Commissioner Dwayne McDonald told reporters Wednesday. Authorities found her dead, of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, in the school.
McDonald said that police had visited Van Rootselaar’s “residence on multiple occasions over the past several years, dealing with concerns of mental health with respect to our suspect.”
Later, McDonald said that the most recent occasion for a police visit was the “spring of last year,” over “concerns regarding mental health, self harm.”
“I can say that on different occasions, the suspect was apprehended for assessment and follow up,” McDonald said. Firearms were seized from the home, and later returned after the owner petitioned for them.
Asked whether Van Rootselaar was transgender, McDonald said that police were identifying her “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 said.
There is no information that suggests Van Rootselaar experienced “bullying” at school related to her transition, McDonald said.
Among the victims of Tuesday’s shooting were Van Rootselaar’s mother and step-brother. McDonald said that the two were found in a residence after the school shooting, when a young female relative alerted a neighbor.
Young female relative of suspected Tumbler Ridge shooter alerted neighbor
Police said a young female relative at the Tumbler Ridge home of the suspected shooter alerted neighbors to the attack, who then raised the alarm.
Two family members were killed at the suspected shooter’s home, before the suspect continued to Tumbler Ridge Secondary School, Deputy Commissioner Dwayne McDonald told a news conference Wednesday.
Police did not receive a call from the neighbor to attend the home until 1:47 p.m. Pacific time, around 17 minutes after Royal Canadian Mounted Police first received reports of an active shooter at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School.
Most of the victims in Tumbler Ridge are "quite young," police say
Police said Wednesday that most of the victims of the school shooting in Tumbler Ridge are “quite young,” and that families are still being notified of their conditions.
“We’re currently ongoing with the family notification,” said Deputy Commissioner Dwayne McDonald of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. “I will say, as I mentioned before, that most of our victims are quite young. Most were born at 2013, 2012.”
Sergeant Vanessa Munn added at the end of the presser that the victims included “three 12-year-old female students, two male students, ages 12 and 13” – correcting earlier ages quoted by McDonald.
Any public identification of victims, McDonald continued, would be closely coordinated with family members.
“This is incredibly traumatic, and so we’ll deal with and work with the families, cooperate with them in terms of the release of the identities of the victims,” McDonald said.
“We don’t want to create additional trauma for families that are dealing with probably the worst circumstances of their lives.”
Tumbler Ridge: the "instant town" at the heart of a national tragedy
Tumbler Ridge, where a mass shooting left at least eight people dead on Tuesday, is a small town of about 2,400 people, nestled in the eastern foothills of Canada’s Rocky Mountains in British Columbia.
One of British Columbia’s newest towns, it was founded in the 1980s as a coal mining community, part of a provincial resource development megaproject. It has been called one of British Columbia’s last “instant towns” – remote resource communities where long-term settlement and community development was encouraged by the government.
Two nearby coal mines, the town’s major employers, opened in 1983, but due to falling coal prices and market uncertainty, both had shut down by 2003.
The town’s planners have noted the resilience of Tumbler Ridge, how it continued to survive after the coal mining industry in the area collapsed.
“It’s a town of of miners, teachers, construction workers, families who have built their lives there – people who have always shown up for each other there,” Carney said.
“When wildfires raged, neighbors helped each other pack up and move out of harm’s way,” Carney said. “They checked in on seniors and those living alone. They made sure no one was left behind.”
Police correct death toll down to eight killed by shooter in Tumbler Ridge
Police have corrected the death toll of the Tumbler Ridge shooting to eight killed by the shooter, who then killed herself.
Authorities previously believed nine people were killed in one of Canada’s worst mass shootings in decades, in addition to the shooter.
Deputy Commissioner Dwayne McDonald said police had initially believed one of the victims had died from “significant” injuries, but in fact survived.
“She is alive, and it was one of the two female victims that were airlifted to hospital,” McDonald of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said Wednesday, adding that both the victims remain in serious condition.
Police say they do not know the motive behind the shooting
Canadian police say that they do not know the motive behind the shooting in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, and that “it would be too early to speculate” on one.
“We understand the community has questions, and we understand they want to know the motive behind this tragic incident,” said Deputy Commissioner Dwayne McDonald.
“We do believe the suspect acted alone, and there are currently no other outstanding suspects,” McDonald added. “Our investigators remain on scene, actively gathering information to determine the full circumstances of what transpired.”
Asked whether the alleged shooter left a note or any kind of communication, McDonald said the police had not located one.
“Recognizing we’re still less than 24 hours into this incident, (a motive) is something that we are certainly passionately pursuing,” McDonald said. “But it would be too early to speculate on motive.”
Police had visited Tumbler Ridge suspect's family residence on previous occasions
Police had visited the family residence of the suspect in the deadly Tumbler Ridge shooting on numerous occasions before the attack that killed at least eight people and injured dozens.
“Some of the calls were related to mental health issues,” Deputy Commissioner Dwayne McDonald of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police told a news conference on Wednesday.
Two firearms, a long gun and a modified handgun were recovered by responding officers, McDonald said.
“Police have attended that residence in the past, approximately a couple of years ago, where firearms were seized under the Criminal Code. I can say that at a later point in time, the lawful owner of those firearms petitioned for those firearms to be returned, and they were,” the deputy commissioner added.
Tumbler Ridge victims include a teacher, students, and suspect's mother and step-brother, police say
The deceased victims in the Tumbler Ridge shooting include a teacher, several students, and two relatives of the suspected shooter, police said Wednesday.
“The deceased victims from the school include an adult female educator, three female students and two male students,” said Deputy Commissioner Dwayne McDonald of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
Later in the press conference, Sergeant Vanessa Munn said the victims included “three 12-year-old female students, two male students, ages 12 and 13” – correcting earlier ages quoted by McDonald.
“Two additional victims, an adult female and a male youth were located deceased in the local residence,” McDonald said, adding that those two additional victims were the suspect’s mother and step-brother.
“The female adult victim is the mother of the suspect, and the youth male is the brother of the suspect, or step-brother,” McDonald said.
Canadian police identify suspect in Tumbler Ridge shootings
Police have identified the person they suspect of killing eight people and injuring dozens in a shooting in Tumbler Ridge, Canada.
The suspect is an 18-year-old female named Jesse Van Rootselaar, Deputy Commissioner Dwayne McDonald, commanding officer of the British Columbia Royal Canadian Mounted Police (BC RCMP), said at a news conference Wednesday.
McDonald said that the suspect was assigned male at birth and began transitioning to female six years ago.
The suspect was a resident of Tumbler Ridge, the officer said.
The shooting is one of Canada’s deadliest in decades. Authorities revised the death toll to eight this afternoon, saying one of the victims who was thought to have died from injuries survived.
“Tumbler Ridge represents the very best of Canada,” PM Carney says
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney expressed his condolences to the community of Tumbler Ridge for the mass shooting that killed at least eight people and injured dozens.
“Tumbler Ridge represents the very best of Canada: resilient, compassionate, and strong,” he said during an address to the House of Commons on Wednesday, following a moment of silence.
Carney said his government is in close contact with provincial and local officials to help provide support to the Tumbler Ridge community.
“Yesterday morning, parents in Tumbler Ridge sent their children off to school, and some will never be able to hug their children again,” Carney said in French. “These children and their teachers bore witness to unheard of cruelty.”
The prime minister said there will be “important questions to ask” and “difficult conversations to have,” in the days ahead.
“But now, it’s time for grieving and remembrance, now is for the people of Tumbler Ridge and the Peace River region – for a community that is enduring the unimaginable,” Carney added.
Shooting occurred soon after Canada began a buy-back program for assault rifles
While Canada has tighter restrictions on gun ownership than the United States, guns are nonetheless a hot-button political issue in the country, which is still trying to implement gun laws passed after a deadly mass shooting in 2020.
“Canada actually has a fairly high rate of civilian gun ownership compared to other advanced democracies,” said Blake Brown, a professor at Saint Mary’s University in Nova Scotia and expert on Canadian gun control.
The country has around 37.4 civilian firearms per 100 people, compared to 14.5 in Australia, according to a 2017 release from the Small Arms Survey.
Brown noted that Tuesday’s shooting in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, occurred soon after the federal government had unveiled a much-debated, long-awaited buy-back program for prohibited firearms, first proposed after the country suffered its worst mass shooting in 2020.
In mid-January, Ottawa announced that owners of any of the 2,500 prohibited makes and models of assault-style firearms – including AR-15s – have until March 31 to turn in their weapons and receive compensation. After that date, gun owners won’t be compensated – but they’ll still have to return their firearms.
“The promise (in 2020) was that they were going to purchase these weapons, to offer owners of them money to get these guns back,” Brown said. “And that’s been very, very slow to happen.”
Part of the reason for that delay is pushback from gun owners. Though Canada’s gun lobby is much smaller than its counterparts in the US, Brown says that they are still “sizeable.”
There’s also been opposition from the country’s Conservative Party. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has frequently slammed the buy-back program as a “gun grab” that would harm law-abiding gun owners.
There are also implementation issues. Some provinces, like Alberta, have said it won’t participate in the buy-back at all.
“I think many people might assume that Canada’s a place without many guns or really strong gun laws,” Brown said. “And in fact, there are a fair number of guns and the gun laws – although they’re good in some ways – there’s still weaknesses that get exploited.”
Local pastor urges Tumbler Ridge to keep family of unnamed shooter in their thoughts
A local pastor has urged the heartbroken community of Tumbler Ridge to remember the family of the unnamed shooter.
George Rowe of Tumbler Ridge Fellowship Church told Canada’s CBC News that he left his house to visit the scene of the shooting as soon as the lockdown was lifted. “What I saw was devastating,” he said.
Rowe, who was once a substitute teacher at the school, described scores of parents gathered around the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) hoping to receive information about their children. “Just waiting for the news of whether their child had survived the shooting or not,” he said.
According to Rowe, the RCMP provided little information on the status of individuals, which he said caused confusion among the parents.
Rowe said speculation around the identity of the shooter is rife, with rumors spreading quickly throughout the town. “Everybody here practically, they know everybody,” he said, “And I don’t think it will be a big surprise when the name is released.”
But the pastor called for understanding as the investigation continues.
Tumbler Ridge shooting an "unimaginable moment of tragedy," says Canada's governor general
Canada’s Governor General Mary Simon has issued a statement saying that she and her husband Whit are devasted following the news of Canada’s deadliest mass shooting in decades at Tumbler Ridge.
“Our deepest condolences go to the families of the victims of this senseless violence, and to the entire community,” she said.
The governor general extended her gratitude to the officers and first responders, “who bravely risked their lives to protect and help their fellow Canadians.”
Some context: The governor general is the federal representative of the Canadian monarch, King Charles III. Mary Simon was sworn in as Canada’s first Indigenous governor general in 2021, and the 30th governor general since Confederation.
School district sets up support services following mass shooting at Tumbler Ridge
The Peace River South School District has set up support services following the “tragic and deeply traumatic” mass shooting at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School.
A support space for the school community has been established at Tumbler Ridge Community Centre, where mental health professionals will be providing support over the next few days.
“While words often feel inadequate in the face of such loss, coming together can help reduce isolation and remind us that we are not alone,” she added.
Conservative leader Poilievre mourns 'heartbreak and hell' for parents of victims
Canada’s opposition leader Pierre Poilievre said he was devastated by the “appalling shooting” in Tumbler Ridge as he headed into a caucus meeting in Ottawa earlier this morning.
“The fact that this took place at a secondary school, it makes it even more tragic,” Poilievre told reporters at Parliament Hill earlier today.
The conservative leader urged Canadians to unite to support the families and community, and said he would speak to Prime Minister Mark Carney later to offer support and work together in the wake of the tragedy.
“I encourage all Canadians to pray for the community and pray for the family as we go forward and take the necessary steps to support them,” he added.
Carney clears much of his schedule for the day following shooting
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has cleared much of his schedule for Wednesday following news of the school shooting in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia.
Early Wednesday morning, the prime minister’s office announced that his previously-announced schedule was “suspended” due to the shooting.
Carney was due to travel to Halifax, Nova Scotia today to “announce new measures to strengthen Canada’s security” before taking a tour of an affordable housing construction site. The prime minister also had a scheduled flight on Wednesday evening from Halifax to Munich for a major international security conference. Both trips were suspended today.
Carney’s new schedule retained his caucus meeting with members of his party in Parliament this morning, as well as a statement in the House of Commons this afternoon. This morning, the prime minister held back tears as he told reporters in Ottawa that “the nation mourns with” Tumbler Ridge.
Police tell CNN they are still unable to publicly confirm suspect's identity
Although some local news outlets have reported the name of the suspect, Canadian police have told CNN they are currently unable to publicly confirm the identity of the suspect in yesterday’s mass shooting in Tumbler Ridge.
Updates will be provided as more information becomes available, she added.
Police previously said they know the identity of the suspect but did not give further details, and declined to say if they were a child.
Survivor of 1989 Montreal school massacre responds to latest shooting
Nathalie Provost, a Canadian MP who survived the 1989 École Polytechnique massacre in Montreal, has responded to yesterday’s school shooting by highlighting the lasting trauma such incidents leave behind.
In 1989, a gunman murdered 14 women in Montreal in a shocking incident that prompted a national reckoning about violence against women and led to tighter gun laws. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said last year that Provost “knows that guns designed to kill people don’t belong on our streets.”
Meanwhile, Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew said that schools “should always be places of safety and care.”
“Manitoba stands with our friends and relatives in British Columbia as they grieve this heartbreaking loss,” he posted on X.
“The nation mourns with you,” tearful Carney tells residents of Tumbler Ridge
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has told people in Tumbler Ridge “the nation mourns with you,” as Canadians wake up after a “difficult day” that saw its worst school shooting in decades.
Carney thanked the world leaders who have sent Canada messages of support and compassion, as well as the “first responders, the teachers, the staff, the residents, for everything they’ve done in this terrible situation.”
He added that he was sending Minister of Public Safety Gary Anandasangaree to Tumbler Ridge.
King Charles III offers "heartfelt condolences" following Tumbler Ridge "brutal violence"
King Charles III, who is Canada’s head of state, said he and his wife Queen Camilla were “profoundly shocked and saddened” to learn of yesterday’s deadly attack at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School in British Columbia.
“We can only express our deepest possible sympathy to the families who are grieving the unimaginable loss of their loved ones and those still awaiting news from hospital,” the King wrote in a statement published on the Royal Family’s official X account.
The monarch described Tumbler Ridge as a community where “every child’s name will be known and every family will be a neighbour.” He expressed sorrow for those affected by what he described as a “senseless act of brutal violence.”
King Charles thanked police officers, healthcare staff and first responders for their efforts.
“In sending our most heartfelt condolences, my wife and I stand in solidarity with the people of Tumbler Ridge and all Canadians as they seek understanding, healing and strength,” he added.
The Prince and Princess of Wales echoed King Charles’ sentiment in a post on the Kensington Royal X account, saying, “We stand with all Canadians.”
