Suspected shooter named as community gathers to grieve after Canada’s worst school shooting in decades. Here’s what we know
CTV NETWORK, FILE, CNN
By Lex Harvey, Max Saltman, Caitlin Danaher, Hira Humayun, Billy Stockwell, Christian Edwards, Catherine Nicholls, CNN
(CNN) — 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.
Here’s what we know about the shooting, the alleged shooter, victims and the ongoing investigation.
Who are the victims?
Police confirmed the names and ages of the eight killed in the shootings on Thursday.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) named the victims found in the school as Abel Mwansa, 12; Ezekiel Schofield, 13; Kylie Smith, 12; Zoey Benoit, 12; Ticaria Lampert, 12; and Shannda Aviugana-Durand, 39.
Authorities had earlier said that a 39-year-old educator was killed in the attack.
Two other victims were found at a house in Tumbler Ridge: Emmett Jacobs, 11, and Jennifer Jacobs, 39.
The two relatives found dead at the home were the suspected shooter’s mother and step-brother, police said Wednesday. A review by CNN found that Jennifer Jacobs went by a different name, Jennifer Strang, on social media.
The family of Kylie Smith had earlier confirmed she was among those killed. Her father, Lance Younge, told Canadian network CTV she was a “beautiful soul” and urged other parents to tell their kids “you love them every day.”
“Hold your kids tight, tell them you love them every day. You never know, you never know,” Younge told CTV, sobbing.
On Thursday, Smith’s family wrote in a statement released by the RCMP that Smith “was a talented artist and had dreams of going to art school in the big city of Toronto.”
The RCMP also shared a message from Zoey Benoit’s family on Thursday.
Benoit was “the strongest little girl you could meet,” the statement read. “She brought so much laughter and smiles in her presence. She loved spending time with her family where she could show her love.”
“Our family is devastated by this loss, but we will cherish her memories with us so close to our hearts forever. She will forever be loved and never forgotten. We miss you beautiful girl, Zoey we love you so much.”
Police did not share information beyond the ages and names of the others killed in the attack.
In an interview with CNN’s Canadian broadcast partner CBC, the father of Abel Mwansa, Jr. identified his son as one of the two boys killed at the school. Originally from Zambia, the family had moved to Tumbler Ridge for a mining job.
“It happened that we had a boy and I was just so excited,” Abel Mwansa, Sr. told CBC. “I ended up giving him my name.”
Mwansa, Sr. said his son always had a smile on his face.
“Just such a good boy,” he said.
One of those seriously wounded was Maya Edmonds, 12, who is in a critical condition in Vancouver Children’s Hospital after being shot in the head and neck, according to a note from her mother on a GoFundMe page verified by CNN.
“My 12 year old daughter is fighting for her life while they try to repair the damage,” Maya’s mother Cia Edmonds wrote in an update, adding that she was clinging to a “shred of hope.”
A verified fundraising page for another victim, Paige Hoekstra, said she is recovering after suffering “one gunshot wound to the chest” and undergoing surgery.
The number of people killed in the massacre was revised down to eight on Wednesday, not including the shooter. Authorities initially said nine people were killed, but later said a seriously wounded person they thought had died had in fact survived.
Who is the alleged shooter?
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.
On Friday, McDonald said that neither the shotgun used in the attack at Van Rootselaar’s home nor “the main firearm believed to be used in the mass shooting at the school” had ever been seized by police. The shotgun was unregistered, and the RCMP is still investigating the origin of the firearm used at the school.
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.
At a press conference on Friday, McDonald told reporters that they did not believe Van Rootselaar targeted specific victims at the school.
“There was no specific targeting of any individuals,” McDonald said. “This suspect was, for lack of a better term, hunting.”
How did the shooting unfold?
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, Deputy Commissioner Dwayne McDonald of the RCMP said.
Two people were take to hospital with serious wounds and around 25 others required medical attention.
What has been the community reaction?
Hundreds of people gathered at a public square in Tumbler Ridge on Wednesday night, holding candles and laying flowers at a community vigil.
Mayor Darryl Krakowka said the town is “one big family,” as he choked back tears during a news conference following the vigil.
“Everybody’s going to be grieving in Tumbler Ridge,” Krakowka said.
“Lend your ear when somebody needs your ear, lend your shoulder when somebody needs your shoulder. Give somebody a hug,” he said.
Tumbler Ridge is small town, with just 2400 people, that lies at the foothills of the Rocky mountains in northeast British Columbia. It was founded in the 1980s as a coal mining community, but the two main coal mines later closed.
Pointing to the the town’s resilience in the face of adversity, Prime Minister Mark Carney said Tumbler Ridge is the kind of place that makes sure no one is left behind.
The timeline in this story has been updated following clarification from Canadian police.
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