The
deranged high school dropout who murdered his mother and stepbrother before killing six people at a British Columbia high school has been identified as 18-year-old transgender ex-student Jesse Van Rootselaar.
The horrifying attack, one of the
deadliest shootings in Canada’s history, began Tuesday at a residence in the sleepy rural community of Tumbler Ridge, in the western province, and concluded at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School, a small academy serving grades 7-12 with a student body of around 160.
Authorities say Van Rootselaar died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at the school.
Students evacuating Tumbler Ridge Secondary School in British Columbia, Canada after the mass shooting on Feb. 10, 2026. via REUTERS
Van Rootselaar was identified Wednesday as the shooter by Royal Canadian Mounted Police Deputy Commissioner Dwayne McDonald, who said he was “born a biological male … who approximately six years ago began to transition to female, and identified as female.”
Asked by a reporter whether he believes there was any correlation between Van Rootselaar identifying as transgender and the shooting, McDonald said it’s “too early to say.”
Photos of Rootselaar in a happy birthday message posted by his grandmother on Facebook for his 14th birthday, approximately two years into his transition, show what appears to be a fairly normal teenage boy.
Several of the pictures were taken outdoors, in one of them he’s holding two recently caught fish and in another he’s standing in front of a pickup truck with what appears to be a large fishing net attached.
“Happy 14th birthday to our grandson Jesse !! Love you always !! XOXO,” the caption of the August 2021 posting read.
McDonald said police had visited the family home on multiple occasions over the last several years due to concerns over Van Rootselaar’s mental health.
Nine people were killed and at least 25 others were injured in the shooting. AFP via Getty Images
On more than one occasion, he was taken into custody for assessment under the Mental Health Act, he said.
Two years ago, firearms were seized from the home, but the lawful owner — who McDonald did not name — got them back after petitioning to have them returned.
Two firearms were recovered at the school, including a long gun and a modified handgun, but it was not immediately clear whether they were the weapons that were previously confiscated and returned.
An initial alert issued about an active shooter at the school Tuesday afternoon described the shooter as a “female in a dress.”
Police at the scene of the mass shooting in Tumbler Ridge. AP
The police superintendent later described the shooter as a “gunperson” in a press briefing.
Six people were found dead inside the school, and the bodies of his mother, 39, and stepbrother, 11, were discovered in a local residence, cops said.
CTV News identified Van Rootselaar’s mother as Jennifer Strang, and initially reported the shooter as having the same last name.
In an Instagram from July, 2024, Strang posted a picture of a trans-inclusive pride flag emblazoned with the message “good people don’t spend their time harassing marginalized communities.”
Describing herself as a “conservative-leaning libertarian,” Strang aligned herself with the flag’s message.
The Canadian flag seen at half mast at the country’s parliament building in Ottawa on Feb. 11, 2026 after the mass shooting. REUTERS
“I really hope the hate I see online is just bored old people and not true hatred. Do better and educate yourself before spewing bulls–t online,” she wrote. “Do you have any idea how many kids are killing themselves over this kind of hate?” she asked before concluding her post with the hashtag #ProtectTransKids.
The victims shot inside the school included one female teacher, 39, three 12-year-old female students and two male students aged 12 and 13. Their identities were not revealed
Most of the students who were killed were found in the library, with one found in a stairwell, McDonald said.
Van Rootselaar was a former student who dropped out approximately four years ago, according to McDonald. How he gained access to the building during school hours was not immediately known.
Approximately 25 others were wounded in the shooting, a few seriously injured, but most of whom were being treated for non-life-threatening injuries at a local hospital.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney speaking to the media in Ottawa about the shooting on Feb. 11, 2026. AFP via Getty Images
The Tumbler Ridge Royal Canadian Mounted Police responded to reports of a shooting around 1:20 p.m. local time on Tuesday.
The school went into lockdown, and students and teachers barricaded themselves in classrooms for more than two hours before around 100 students were evacuated to safety.
The RCMP’s emergency public alert was cancelled at 5:45 p.m. local time, as they believed there was no longer a threat to the public.
The shooting is the latest in a number of mass shootings committed by individuals who identify as transgender over the past decade.
- Robin Westman, the Minneapolis school shooter who killed two kids and injured 21 others last August, identified as a transgender woman.
- Audrey Hale, who killed six people at Nashville’s Convent School in 2023, was also transgender.
- Alec McKinney, who took part in the 2019 Colorado charter school shooting, was born female but identified as male.
- Snochia Moseley, a transgender (male to female), murdered three and injured three others in 2018 in a Maryland Rite Aid warehouse shooting.
Only two shootings in Canadian history have claimed more victims.
The second-deadliest rampage in the country’s history was the Montreal massacre at École Polytechnique in December 1989, in which 14 women were targeted and killed.
The grim distinction for the deadliest attack goes to the 2020 Nova Scotia attacks, in which a 51-year-old maniac lit fires at 16 locations and committed multiple shootings around the province between April 18 and 19, killing 22.
-Additional reporting by Zoe Hussain
