Authorities are sharing more details on how Tuesday’s mass shooting unfolded in the small northern B.C. community of Tumbler Ridge. Deputy Commissioner Dwayne McDonald, commanding officer of the B.C. RCMP, said local Mounties responded to a report of a shooting at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School around 1 p.m., and arrived at the scene within two minutes to encounter “active gunfire” on the property. “As officers approached the school, rounds were fired in their direction,” McDonald said at a news conference Wednesday. “Officers entered the school to locate the threat. Within minutes, an individual confirmed to be the shooter was located deceased with what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound.” Local residents were told to continue sheltering inside and locking their doors—and to avoid distracting themselves with their phones, or posting pictures of the location of law enforcement online—for hours as authorities worked to confirm there was no ongoing threat elsewhere in the community. Officers recovered two weapons, a long gun and a modified handgun, from the crime scene. McDonald said he couldn’t yet share the models of the firearms or confirm who they belonged to, citing the need to “make sure that the information we do provide is accurate.” “I know the guns are of significant interest to everybody,” he added. The lone suspect has also been publicly identified Jesse VanRootselaar, an 18-year-old Tumbler Ridge resident who had dropped out of school four years ago. McDonald said officers had been called to VanRootselaar’s home “on multiple occasions” in recent years, and that the teenager was also apprehended under the Mental Health Act more than once. During one such call, officers seized firearms from the property. “I can say at a later point in time, the lawful owners of those firearms petitioned to have those returned, and they were,” McDonald said. Few other details have been confirmed about the suspect, but McDonald said VanRootselaar was “born as a biological male” and “identified as a female.” CTV News has also confirmed two of the victims were VanRootselaar’s mother Jennifer Strang and 11-year-old sibling Emmet Strang. Both were found dead at home. The other victims were a 39-year-old teacher at Tumbler Ridge Secondary and five students—three 12-year-old girls and two boys, ages 12 and 13. One grieving father has identified his daughter Kylie Smith as one of the deceased. “We just loved her so much,” Lance Younge said Wednesday. “She never hurt a soul.” Authorities also corrected information shared Tuesday that 10 people, including the suspect, died during the incident. The death toll stands at nine, McDonald said. “Initially, it was believed that one of the victims, a female with significant injuries, who was transported from the scene by our members and then transitioned to paramedics, had succumbed to her injuries,” he said. “Police have since confirmed that is not the case.” Two seriously injured survivors, a 12-year-old girl and 19-year-old woman, remain in hospital. The younger victim has been named in an online fundraiser as Maya Edmonds, who is undergoing care at BC Children’s Hospital. In a Facebook post, the girl’s mother said she was shot twice, in the head and neck. “I never thought I would be asking for prayers, but please, please pray for my baby,” Cia Edmonds wrote.
