Transgender Ex-Student Identified as Suspect in One of Canada’s Deadliest School Shootings
Canadian authorities have identified 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar as the suspect in one of Canada’s most devastating school attacks in recent memory, confirming that the high school dropout identified as transgender.
Police say the violence began Tuesday at a residence in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, where Van Rootselaar allegedly murdered his mother and 11-year-old stepbrother. According to authorities, the suspect then proceeded to Tumbler Ridge Secondary School and opened fire, fatally shooting a 39-year-old teacher and five students between the ages of 12 and 13 years old, as well as critically injuring two others. The suspect then took his own life with a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police Deputy Commissioner Dwayne McDonald confirmed Wednesday that the suspect, Jesse Van Rootselarr, was “born a biological male … who approximately six years ago began to transition to female, and identified as female.” McDonald stated it’s “too early to say” whether the suspect’s transgender identity had to do with the shooting.
Referring to himself as “MtF,” Van Rootselaar described concerns about HRT treatments at 15 years old. A frequenter of transgender community forums, Van Rootselaar wrote, “I’m pre-HRT 15yo, I’m super skinny, so that sometimes makes me feel kinda good…[M]y expectations are minimal for chest growth, and I’m 6ft tall! Why can’t I be petit an [sic] smol [small]” in a 2020 forum post. (RELATED: Of Lobotomies, Anorexia, and ‘Gender-Affirming Care’)
Van Rootselaar had a history of mental health issues and had been visited by the police at his home several times for mental health checks. He was a Redditor, and he wrote openly about his heavy psychedelic drug use, psychiatric medications, prior mental health hospitalizations, and episodes of losing touch with reality. “I tried shrooms once, it was a small unmeasured dose and it was chill. The second time I tried it I took 3 grams of Blue Meanie ground up into some peanut butter and had a complete break from reality and did a lot of irrational things, I felt like I was dreaming…” he explained on Reddit. He also posted several photos and videos of himself with firearms. (RELATED: The Med-Mal Floodgates Are Open Thanks to the Fox Varian Case, and Thank God for That)
One X user claimed to have identified a shooting range the suspect frequently used, which is 3 hours away from Tumbler Ridge. Other X users revealed social media statements from Van Rootselaar’s mother, Jennifer Strang. One post said she “openly backed her son’s transition” in a social media post, where she posted a picture of a pride progress flag and told parents to “get their act together” so her son wouldn’t grow up in a “world full of hatred.” Another post shows Jennifer’s Facebook posts from 2015, where she discussed her son’s apparent behavioral disorders. She wrote that he “has a devious grin when he hurts his siblings.”
The BBC reported that police had removed firearms from Van Rootselaar’s home two years ago, but a family member had successfully petitioned to have the firearms returned. Authorities do not yet know how the suspect obtained the long gun and handgun that he used in the attack; he was previously known by police and had been taken into custody due to mental health episodes. (RELATED: Transgender Mass Murderers: The Drugs and Demons That Drive Them)
It is also reported that CityNews applied visual filters to an image of Van Rootselaar to make the suspected shooter “look female.” This follows the attempt by mainstream media outlets to refer to the shooter as female. The New York Times described Van Rootselaar as “her,” writing that “Her motive was unclear, but police had visited her home several times for mental health issues.”
Several Canadian leaders have responded to the tragedy that unfolded at Tumbler Ridge. Prime Minister Mark Carney told reporters, “The nation mourns with you, Canada stands by you.” Conservative Party of Canada leader Pierre Poilievre was interviewed as well, and he said, “As a father, I can’t even imagine the calls that parents might have received. I can’t imagine the heartache & hell that they’re living through at this moment.”
Tumbler Ridge Mayor Darryl Krakowka remarked, “I will know every victim. I’ve been here 19 years, and we’re a small community…I call them family,” when he spoke to CBC. He emphasized that Tumbler Ridge is a small, intimate community where everyone knows everyone. “We don’t lock our doors here. It is an incredibly safe community,” Krakowka said.
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