The tiny Canadian mountain town of Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, suffered one of the country’s worst school shootings in recent history on Tuesday, when an 18-year-old woman killed at least eight people and wounded dozens.
Police say they still don’t know the motive of the suspected shooter, who killed their mother and step-brother at a home before going to the school, but had previously dealt with them over mental health concerns.
Flags across Canada were lowered to half-staff on Wednesday, and Prime Minister Mark Carney and other national political figures paid their respects in Parliament with speeches and a moment of silence. British Columbia has declared Thursday a day of mourning.
Police identified the alleged shooter as Jesse Van Rootselaar, an 18-year-old Tumbler Ridge woman who they said had dropped out of school approximately four years ago.
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,” said McDonald, the deputy police commissioner.
The most recent police visit was last spring and was 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.
He confirmed police had not found a note or any kind of communication that might indicate a motive.
Canadian police believe the shooter initially killed her mother and step-brother in a residence in Tumbler Ridge before heading to the school.
Police received a report of an active shooter at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School at 2:20 p.m. local time (4:20 p.m. ET) Tuesday. Within minutes, officers were on the scene.
At around 2:30 p.m., alarms began to sound in the school, announcing a lockdown and ordering that classroom doors be closed. A student said he and his classmates used tables to barricade themselves in.
Meanwhile, a young female relative at the Tumbler Ridge home of the suspected shooter alerted a neighbor to the attack, who then phoned police at 2:47 p.m.
Police said the alleged shooter was found dead in the school with what appeared to be a self-inflicted injury.
When police entered the school, they found one dead victim in a stairwell, and others in the library, said Deputy Commissioner Dwayne McDonald of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).
Two people were take to hospital with serious wounds and around 25 others required medical attention.
