What We Know So Far about the Tragedy in Tumbler Ridge

[Editor’s note: This story contains distressing details. Please read with care. If you are a parent looking for resources to discuss the events with your children, please consult this guide released by the Ministry of Education.]

Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, and Canada are in mourning after a mass shooting at the community’s high school Tuesday.

An 18-year-old female with a gun killed five students and an educator at the small northeastern British Columbia community’s school. The mother and stepbrother of the suspect were later found dead at their home. After initially firing at police arriving at the school, the suspect was discovered dead from what police believe to be a self-inflicted wound.

Two others were severely injured, including a 12-year-old girl who was shot in the head and neck and airlifted to Vancouver for medical care. Medical teams assessed dozens more on the scene for potential injuries.

The tragedy, one of the worst mass killings in Canadian history, brought messages of condolence from Prime Minister Mark Carney, B.C. Premier David Eby and political leaders from around the world.

Today police identified the perpetrator as Jesse Van Rootselaar. Responding police officers recovered a long gun and a modified handgun at the scene.

Misinformation about the tragedy has been rampant, with online posts Tuesday evening misidentifying the shooter as a trans woman not connected with the incident.

Timeline

Only one journalist was on the ground as the incident unfolded. Trent Ernst, who runs Tumbler RidgeLines, spent Tuesday afternoon trying to inform locals about what police had described as an active shooter situation.

Around 1:30 p.m., rumours started to spread around the community of a mass shooting at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School. Ernst got in his car and rushed to the scene. He found roads blocked off and received an emergency alert about an active shooting in the area.

Looking across a snowy field, Ernst could see the flashing lights of police cruisers surrounding the school. Despite the alert, there had not yet been an indication that shots had been fired or that anybody was injured, and Ernst struck a calm tone in his reports, noting that he could see police officers entering the high school “freely.” He could also see a gathering of people on a path near the school.

“If you are not part of the investigation, do try to avoid the area,” he said.

Across the community, residents — including Ernst’s own daughter — were told to shelter in place.

After his phone battery died, Ernst returned home to continue reporting. Around 3 p.m., police released a statement noting that one suspect had been found dead and saying they were trying to confirm if there was another shooter. Police also said they were determining the “total number of victims involved.”

“There are, definitely, people injured and possibly killed,” Ernst told locals.

It would take several hours for the public to learn about the scale of the horrific events that had occurred inside.

Around 7 p.m., RCMP sent out a news release cancelling the emergency alert and notifying the public — and the world — that 10 people had died, among them the shooter.

“It’s a tragedy here in Tumbler Ridge,” Ernst said this morning.

Tumbler Ridge is a small community of just 2,400 people.

Its high school has about 160 students ranging from Grade 7 to 12. Most residents will have a direct connection to those who were inside at the time of the incident. Ernst himself had previously worked at the school as a substitute teacher.

“This is really hitting me hard,” Ernst wrote. “This is hitting the community hard.”

Injuries and victims

In addition to the dead, police said two people were airlifted to hospital with “serious or life-threatening” injuries. “Approximately 25” more victims, police said, were being assessed and treated locally for what RCMP said were non-life-threatening injuries. Police later said many showed signs of potential trauma — including the presence of blood — but were physically uninjured.

The identities of those who were killed have not been released. At a press conference today, RCMP Deputy Commissioner Dwayne McDonald said most of the students were “quite young” and born in 2012 and 2013, making them 12 to 14 years old.

The only victim identified was a 12-year-old girl named Maya whose mother posted on Facebook that she had been shot and taken to Vancouver Children’s Hospital to receive urgent medical care.

“Today started as any other,” her mother wrote. “Now, however, my 12-year-old daughter is fighting for her life while they try to repair the damage from a gunshot wound to the head. And one to the neck. She was a lucky one, I suppose. Condolences to the other families during this tragedy. This doesn’t even feel real.”

Police said that it will be left to parents to decide whether to identify the children killed.

Assailant

At the press conference today, police identified the shooter as an 18-year-old woman named Jesse Van Rootselaar.

As the scale of the incident became known, people began to speculate about the identity of the shooter. Initial emergency alerts described the assailant only as “a female in a dress with brown hair.”

At the press conference police said they had previously attended Van Rootselaar’s home to deal with her mental health concerns and that on “different occasions” she had been apprehended under the Mental Health Act, taken to hospital and later released.

Police said the last involvement between Van Rootselaar and police occurred last spring.

Police said Van Rootselaar dropped out of school four years ago. The relationship, if any, between the suspect and any victims at the school has not yet been released.

The suspect had begun to transition from male to female six years ago and identified as female publicly and socially, McDonald said. Asked about whether Van Rootselaar experienced bullying, potentially due to her transition, McDonald said there was no information about that. Given the ages of most of the student victims, the shooter would have been several years older than most of the victims killed at the school.

Online, some right-wing content creators, outlets and politicians began sharing a photo of an unrelated trans woman Tuesday night, declaring that she was the suspect. That woman was later revealed to be unconnected to the tragedy and living outside of British Columbia. Many of these posts continue to spread. The Tyee is not linking to any of the posts shared by right-wing content creators in order to avoid further spreading the misinformation.

Firearms

Van Rootselaar had a firearms licence that had expired in 2024. None of the firearms were registered to her.

Police said they had visited the home “a couple years” ago and seized firearms. Those firearms were later returned. No charges were laid at the time.

McDonald said police weren’t immediately identifying the specific types of firearms used, nor who owned them, because that part of the investigation is continuing.

“We want to make sure that the information we do provide is accurate,” he said.

“We want to ensure that we can identify properly the ownership of the firearms, how they were procured, whether they were lawfully owned, unlawfully owned, where they were manufactured and whether there could be any other parties to an offence that we are not yet aware of.”

Condolences pour in

The tragedy drew worldwide attention and coverage, and condolences and messages of grief from people and leaders across Canada and the world.

“This is a devastating and unimaginable tragedy,” Premier David Eby said Tuesday evening. “We can’t imagine what the community is going through but I know it’s causing us all to hug our kids a little bit tighter tonight.”

Eby and Minister of Public Safety Nina Krieger travelled to Tumbler Ridge today, joined by federal cabinet ministers Gary Anandasangaree and Gregor Robertson.

Prime Minister Mark Carney appeared visibly shaken while speaking about the incident to reporters.

“This morning parents, grandparents, sisters, brothers in Tumbler Ridge will wake up without someone they love. The nation mourns with them, Canada stands by them,” Carney said.

Carney thanked first responders and medical staff and teachers at the school, saying they showed the best side of the country.

He has cancelled a planned trip to Germany and asked for flags on federal buildings to be flown at half-mast for the next week.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, NDP interim leader Don Davies and Green Party Leader Elizabeth May also offered words of condolence.

Gov. Gen. Mary Simon posted a message saying she and her husband were devastated to hear of the shooting.

“In this unimaginable moment of tragedy, the whole of Canada has Tumbler Ridge in its thoughts,” Simon wrote. “Let us stay united in our compassion and reach out to one another with love and tenderness today, as we join the entire nation in grieving.”

Flags around British Columbia, including those at schools across the province, have also been lowered to half-mast. Many schools are also offering resources to students affected by the news and who may have questions.

The province has released a guide for families looking for help speaking to children about the events.

“Children may experience a wide range of emotions in response to what they hear or see and they will look to the adults in their lives to help them feel safe and understand the world around them,” the document advises.

“Over the coming days or weeks, we encourage families to remain attentive to any changes in their child’s behaviours that may indicate a need for additional support.”