Police officers and investigators work outside the middle school and high school building where a mass shooting took place in the small town of Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, on February 11, 2026. EAGLE VISION AGENCY / AFP
Canadian police on Wednesday, February 11, identified the 18-year-old who carried out a mass shooting in a remote mining town, as authorities investigate the suspect's mental health and previous interactions with police and health care providers. Police commander Dwayne McDonald said authorities still don't know the motive in Tuesday's mass shooting, a rare occurrence in Canada, which has strict gun laws.
The shooter – who took her own life – was known to have mental health issues. McDonald identified the shooter, who killed her mother and stepbrother before shooting dead another six at a school, as Jesse Van Rootselaar, a transgender woman who dropped out of the targeted high school four years ago. Police identified Van Rootselaar as transgender, saying that she began to transition six years ago and identified as a woman both "socially and publicly."
The shooter was known to police, and "we've begun the process of reaching out to" the public health care system to "understand what interactions may have taken place," British Columbia Premier David Eby told a news conference outside the Tumbler Ridge town hall late Wednesday evening.
