Teen kills family, six others in Canada

By Goli Innocent

Canada is in mourning after an 18-year-old woman shot dead members of her family before launching a gun attack on her former school in British Columbia, in what authorities have described as one of the worst mass killings in the country’s history.

Police identified the suspect as Jesse Van Rootselaar, who died by suicide after Tuesday’s rampage in Tumbler Ridge, a remote community of about 2,400 people in western Canada.

Authorities on Wednesday revised the death toll to nine, including the gunwoman, down from an earlier figure of 10.

Investigators said Van Rootselaar first killed her 39-year-old mother and 11-year-old stepbrother at the family home before heading to the local high school, where she opened fire.

Deputy Commissioner Dwayne McDonald, commander of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in British Columbia, said the suspect had a history of mental health challenges.

“Police had attended that (family) residence on multiple occasions over the past several years, dealing with concerns of mental health with respect to our suspect,” McDonald told reporters.

He added that Van Rootselaar had been apprehended under the provincial Mental Health Act more than once for assessment. She had previously attended the school but dropped out four years ago.

At the school, police said, she shot dead a 39-year-old female teacher, three 12-year-old girls, and two boys aged 12 and 13. Dozens of others were injured in the attack. Two victims, aged 12 and 19, remain hospitalised with severe injuries.

Police officers arrived at the scene within two minutes of the first emergency call and came under fire.

Officers encountered “active gunfire, including rounds fired in their direction,” authorities said, before discovering Van Rootselaar dead from what appeared to be a self-inflicted wound.

McDonald said investigators believe she acted alone.

“We do believe the suspect acted alone … it would be too early to speculate on motive,” he said, adding that police had no evidence anyone was specifically targeted.

He also disclosed that the suspect, who was born male but began identifying as female six years ago, had previously held a firearms licence, which expired in 2024. Canadians aged between 12 and 17 can obtain a minor’s firearms licence after completing safety training and passing tests.

Police had seized firearms from the family residence about two years ago but returned them after the owner successfully appealed the decision. After Tuesday’s shooting, authorities recovered a long gun and a modified handgun.

The tragedy has shaken Canada, where school shootings are rare compared to neighbouring United States.

A visibly emotional Prime Minister Mark Carney addressed the nation, saying: “We will get through this. We will learn from this.”

Carney, who postponed a planned trip to Europe, ordered flags on all government buildings to be flown at half-mast for seven days. Later, in the House of Commons, lawmakers observed a moment of silence as the prime minister described a community shattered by violence.

“It is a town of miners, teachers, construction workers, families who have built their lives there, people who have always shown up for each other there … Tumbler Ridge represents the very best of Canada,” he said.

Messages of condolence poured in from across the world. King Charles, Canada’s head of state, said he was “profoundly shocked and saddened” by the killings.

As names of victims began to emerge, grief spread across social media.

In a heart-rending Facebook post, Abel Mwansa confirmed that his 12-year-old son, also named Abel, was among those killed.

Abel had once cried when his father suggested home schooling because he loved attending school, Mwansa wrote. He said he had raised his son to respect elders, “be strong, work hard, put a smile on the face like I do, focus on his studies, never miss school and to be a good kid.”

Another relative, Shanon Dycke, said her 12-year-old niece, Kylie May Smith, was also killed.

“Pray for the other families who have lost their child, or are waiting to hear news,” she wrote. “Just pray for Tumbler Ridge.”

Residents described a tight-knit town now gripped by shock.

“Everybody knows everybody,” said local resident Jordon Kosik. “People don’t lock their homes. They don’t lock their cars. You can just go to your neighbour’s house, just walk right in.”

The shooting ranks among the deadliest in Canadian history.

In April 2020, a gunman disguised as a police officer killed 22 people in Nova Scotia during a 13-hour rampage before being shot dead by police. In December 1989, a mass shooting at Montreal’s École Polytechnique left 14 female students dead before the gunman took his own life.

Larry Neufeld, a provincial legislator, captured the mood in Tumbler Ridge.

“There’s not a word in the English language that’s strong enough to describe the level of devastation that this community has experienced,” he said.

“It’s going to take a significant amount of effort and a significant amount of courage to repair that terror.”

For a country unaccustomed to school massacres, the events in Tumbler Ridge have reopened painful debates about mental health systems, gun control enforcement and community safety even as families begin the slow, unimaginable task of burying their dead.