As the shellshocked families of six children and two women grieve their loss in
one of the worst mass shootings in Canada's history, details are emerging about the shooter's mental health struggles and history with police.
The shooter was identified as 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar, who was born male, began transitioning six years ago and identified as female, Deputy Commissioner Dwayne McDonald of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said at a news conference on Wednesday, Feb. 11.
Police identified Van Rootselaar using her chosen name, McDonald said.
On Tuesday, Van Rootselaar killed her 39-year-old mother and 11-year-old stepbrother at their home in the tiny hamlet of Tumbler Ridge, about 700 miles north of Vancouver. She then went to Tumbler Ridge Secondary School and apparently
began shooting at random, McDonald said.
She killed five people at the school, one in a stairwell and the rest in the library, McDonald said. They victims were three 12-year-old girls, a 12-year-old boy, a 13-year-old boy and a 39-year-old woman who worked as a teacher at the school. Police initially had said there were six victims at the school but corrected that to five on Wednesday, saying a woman airlifted to the hospital in critical condition was mistakenly counted as being among the dead.
Jesse Van Rootselaar was known to police
In the last several years, police had responded to Jesse Van Rootselaar's home on "multiple occasions" over concerns with her mental health, McDonald told reporters on Wednesday.
The shooter was identified as an 18-year-old who had a history of mental health issues and interactions with police.
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When is Canada going to enact stricter guns laws!