A haunting photo has been released of Jesse Van Rootselaar, the person suspected to be behind the deadly school shooting in Canada.
The tragic mass shooting at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School in British Columbia on February 10 has been described as the country’s deadliest school shooting in decades.
The 18-year-old, who had dropped out of high school four years ago, is accused of fatally killing eight people and injuring dozens more, BBC News reported.
According to CNN, the victims included three female students, all aged 12, and two male students, one aged 12 and the other 13, and a 39-year-old female educator.
Jesse Van Rootselaar has been identified as the Tumbler Ridge shooter. Credit: Facebook
Chilling Photos of the Suspect Surface
The harrowing details of the shooting have become even more chilling with the release of images of Van Rootselaar.
One picture, shared by an Australian news site News.com.au, shows the teen grinning while holding a rifle, though it is unclear at what age the photo was taken.
Other pictures, posted by her grandmother on Facebook to celebrate their 14th birthday in August 2021. “Happy 14th birthday to our grandson Jesse !! Love you always !! XOXO,” she wrote in the caption.
An eerie picture has emerged of the 18-year-old suspect in one of Canada’s deadliest-ever shootings. Credit: Facebook
The Attack and Its Devastating Toll
Authorities say that Van Rootselaar shot and killed their mother, Jennifer Strang, 39, and their 11-year-old stepbrother before heading to the school to continue the carnage.
Approximately 25 others were injured in the shooting, with some students and staff barricading themselves inside classrooms for over two hours before being escorted out by officers.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Deputy Commissioner Dwayne McDonald confirmed that the suspected shooter had transitioned from male to female around six years ago and had publicly and socially identified as female.
McDonald also revealed that police were familiar with Van Rootselaar, having responded to the family home multiple times due to concerns about their mental health, per The New York Post.
Firearms had been seized from the home in the past, though officials later returned them after a successful petition from the lawful owner.
It remains unclear whether the firearms recovered from the school – one a long gun and the other a modified handgun – were the same ones previously seized.
Van Rootselaar’s mother, Jennifer Strang, was found at their family home. Credit: Facebook
The mass shooting in Tumbler Ridge unfolded after a text alert was sent to residents of Tumbler Ridge, a remote town with a population of around 2,400, urging them to shelter in place due to an active shooter.
The RCMP quickly arrived at the school, where they found Van Rootselaar deceased from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, bringing the death toll to nine.
On Wednesday (February 11), hundreds of mourners gathered at Tumbler Ridge’s main square and outside the British Columbia legislature in Victoria.
“Schools should be safe,” Tumbler Ridge vigil attendee Gigi Rejano said, while Speaker of the Legislature Raj Chouhan in Vancouver added: “We can only pray together, hold hands together and send our love to all those people.”
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney also expressed his condolences, saying: “What happened has left our nation in shock and all of us in mourning…These children and their teachers bore witness to unheard-of cruelty,” cited by The Guardian.
“I want everyone to know this: our entire country stands with you, on behalf of all Canadians,” he said in an emotional address following a minute of silence in parliament.
Speaking to lawmakers in the House of Commons following the moment of silence, Carney said: “Tumbler Ridge is one of the youngest towns in the great province of British Columbia, carved out of the wilderness in the 1980s, built on the promise of the resource economy and by the determination of its residents.”
“It’s a town of miners, teachers, construction workers, families who have built their lives there, people who have always shown up for each other there.”
The prime minister said he had ordered flags on all government buildings be flown at half-mast for the next seven days.
“We will get through this. We will learn from this,” he told reporters earlier in the day. “But right now, it’s a time to come together, as Canadians always do in these situations, these terrible situations, to support each other, to mourn together and to grow together.”
Our thoughts are with everyone affected by this tragedy.