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Canada was in mourning on Wednesday after eight people were killed, including six children, and dozens more injured in one of the deadliest mass shootings in the country’s history.
The country’s prime minister, Mark Carney, was visibly emotional as he told reporters that it was a “difficult day” for the nation following the attack in Tumbler Ridge, a remote mining town in western Canada.
“Parents and grandparents, sisters and brothers in Tumbler Ridge will wake up without someone they love. The nation mourns with you,” said Carney. “Canada stands by you.”
He said he had asked that the flags at government buildings across the country be flown at half-mast for the next seven days. “We will get through this,” he said. “But right now it is a time to come together, like Canadians always do in these terrible situations. To support each other, to mourn together and to grow together.”
Where did it take place?
The attack unfolded in the small town of Tumbler Ridge, home to about 2,400 residents. The close-knit community sits in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains in north-eastern British Columbia.
Many residents in the town – which lies about 730 miles (1,170km) north of Vancouver near the border of the province of Alberta – work in the mining, quarrying and hydrocarbon industries.
How did it unfold?
Police said they received a report of an active shooter at the Tumbler Ridge secondary school on Tuesday afternoon at about 1.20pm. The school has 160 students in grades 7 to 12, roughly ages 12 to 18, according to its website.
Minutes later, officers arrived at the school, according to officials. “Upon arrival, there was active gunfire, and as officers approached the school, rounds were fired in their direction,” Dwayne McDonald of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police told reporters on Wednesday.
Six people – a teacher, 39, and five students – were found dead in the school. Police said the students killed were three girls, all of them 12 years old, and two boys, ages 12 and 13.
About 25 people were injured. The presumed shooter was also found dead at the school with what was believed to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound, police said.
Police initially said one victim had died on the way to the hospital but later said that the victim was instead among the two people who had been airlifted with serious or life-threatening injuries. Police said on Wednesday that both were in critical but stable condition. About 25 others were treated for injuries at a nearby medical center.
All the remaining students and staff were safely evacuated from the school. Images broadcast on Tuesday showed students being led out of the school, some of them with their hands raised.
Police said that prior to the shooting at the school, a woman, 39, and a child, 11, were killed at a residence linked to the suspect. The two were believed to be the mother and step-brother of the suspect, police said, while another sibling who was present at the residence at the time had managed to alert a neighbour of the shooting
Police said on Wednesday that they believed the suspect had acted alone and no other suspects were being sought in connection with the shooting.
What do we know so far about the suspect?
More than 24 hours after the mass shooting unfolded, officials identified the suspect as local resident, Jesse Van Rootselaar, 18. “Two firearms, a long gun and a modified handgun, were recovered by responding officers,” said McDonald.
Police had attended the residence where the two family members had been found dead on multiple occasions in recent years after “concerns of mental health with respect to our suspect”, he said. “I can say that on different occasions the suspect was apprehended for assessment and follow-up.”
Van Rootselaar had dropped out of school around four years ago, he said.
He said that police had identified the suspect as they had chosen to be identified in public. “I can say that Jesse was born as a biological male who approximately, with the information that I have, approximately six years ago began to transition to female and identified as female both socially and publicly.”
He added: “It’s too early to say whether that has any correlation in this investigation.”
The suspect’s motive remained unclear, he said, and police were still investigating whether the victims were connected to the suspect.
Police said the suspect had a firearms license that had expired in 2024 and did not have any firearms registered to her.
How common are shootings like these in Canada?
Mass shootings in Canada are rare, particularly compared with the neighbouring United States. Analysts have long pointed to Canada’s stricter gun laws, which make it difficult to own handguns or “assault-style weapons”, to explain the difference.
Tuesday’s attack is the second-deadliest school shooting in Canadian history, behind a 1989 tragedy that saw a 25-year-old man claiming to be “anti-feminist” burst into a Montreal school. He killed 13 female students as well as a secretary before taking his own life.
The country’s deadliest shooting took place in 2020, when a man disguised as a police officer went on a shooting and arson rampage in the eastern province of Nova Scotia, killing 22 people.
The government later banned 1,500 models of assault weapons in response to the attack.
