AI Generated Summary
- Nine people are dead and at least two dozen injured after a mass shooting at a high school and a nearby home in the small community of Tumbler Ridge in northeastern British Columbia, in what officials are calling one of the deadliest school shootings in Canadian history.
- Investigators are now examining the suspect’s background, digital footprint and possible connections to the school in an effort to understand what led to the attack, but emphasized that a clear motive has not yet been established.
- Police say the violence began on Tuesday afternoon when officers received reports of an active shooter at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School, a public high school serving the remote mining town of fewer than 2,500 residents in the Rocky Mountains.
Nine people are dead and at least two dozen injured after a mass shooting at a high school and a nearby home in the small community of Tumbler Ridge in northeastern British Columbia, in what officials are calling one of the deadliest school shootings in Canadian history.
Police say the violence began on Tuesday afternoon when officers received reports of an active shooter at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School, a public high school serving the remote mining town of fewer than 2,500 residents in the Rocky Mountains. Within minutes of the first 911 calls, Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) officers arrived to find multiple victims and continued gunfire inside the school.
Six victims were found dead inside the school, and a seventh person initially believed to have died while being transported to hospital was later reported to be alive but critically injured, prompting authorities to revise the death toll. In total, at least 25 to 27 people suffered injuries ranging from minor to life‑threatening, many of them students who were treated locally or airlifted to larger hospitals in the province.
A separate crime scene was discovered at a residence in Tumbler Ridge, where two more people were found fatally shot in what investigators believe was the first stage of the rampage. RCMP have since confirmed that the victims at the home were the suspect’s 39‑year‑old mother and 11‑year‑old stepbrother.
Police have identified the suspect as 18‑year‑old Tumbler Ridge resident Jesse Van Rootselaar, who was found dead inside the high school from what investigators describe as a self‑inflicted gunshot wound. Authorities say there is no ongoing threat to the public and that they are not seeking additional suspects.
RCMP officials said they had received prior mental‑health‑related calls to the suspect’s home, but have not detailed the nature of those interactions or whether any firearms concerns were raised at the time. Investigators are now examining the suspect’s background, digital footprint and possible connections to the school in an effort to understand what led to the attack, but emphasized that a clear motive has not yet been established.
Authorities have said the firearm used in the shooting has been recovered, though they have not released details about the weapon, how it was obtained or whether it was legally registered. The identities of the victims at the school have not been made public, but officials have said they include an educator and several female and male students.
Students and staff described scenes of terror as the shooting unfolded, with some barricading classroom doors with desks and cabinets while others fled the building under police escort. One Grade 12 student told Canadian media that he and classmates waited in near‑silence for more than two hours, texting family members as they listened for footsteps in the hallway.
Parents rushed to the school after receiving emergency alerts and frantic messages from their children, only to be kept behind police tape as heavily armed officers moved in and medics treated the wounded. Community members have begun leaving flowers, candles and handwritten notes near the school’s entrance, which remained cordoned off as a major crime scene as of Wednesday evening.
Hospitals in the region activated mass‑casualty protocols to handle the influx of patients, with some victims transported by air ambulance to larger trauma centres in British Columbia. Local officials have urged residents to make use of emergency counselling services, warning that the psychological impact of the attack will likely be felt across the community for months and years.
Prime Minister Mark Carney delivered a sombre address to the nation, calling the shootings an “unimaginable tragedy” and pledging federal support for the people of Tumbler Ridge. Flags were lowered to half‑mast across Canada as the country grappled with a level of school violence more commonly associated with its southern neighbour.
Carney said the federal Minister of Public Safety, Gary Anandasangaree, was being dispatched to Tumbler Ridge to meet with families, first responders and local authorities. British Columbia Premier David Eby described the attack as “devastating” and praised the swift response of RCMP officers who entered the school within roughly two minutes of the first emergency calls.
The shooting has already reignited debate over gun control, mental health services and school security in a country that prides itself on relatively low levels of firearm violence. Lawmakers and advocates on all sides of the issue signalled they would scrutinize how the suspect obtained a firearm, and whether earlier interventions could have prevented the rampage.
Vigils are being planned in Tumbler Ridge and in communities across British Columbia, where residents are preparing to gather with candles and photos of the victims in a show of solidarity. Clergy, Indigenous leaders and local officials are expected to participate, offering prayers and words of comfort to families who lost children, relatives and friends.
Schools in the area remain closed as investigators continue to process the crime scene and officials assess when it will be safe and appropriate for students to return. Education authorities have promised enhanced counselling and security measures when classes resume, acknowledging that the sense of safety in Canadian schools has been profoundly shaken.
For Tumbler Ridge, a town built around coal mining and tourism, the shooting has abruptly replaced images of mountains and dinosaur tracks with those of police tape and emergency vehicles. Residents say their focus now is on caring for the injured, supporting grieving families and ensuring that those who died are remembered for their lives rather than the manner of their deaths.
