In Tumbler Ridge, a Community in Stunned Agony

PinnedUpdated Here’s the latest.The Canadian authorities on Wednesday identified the suspect in a mass shooting in a remote community in British Columbia as an 18-year-old who killed her mother and stepbrother before fatally shooting several others at a local school.Dwayne McDonald, a deputy commissioner at the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in British Columbia, said most of the victims in the small town of Tumbler Ridge were 12- or 13-year-old students killed in their school library. In all, the police said, the shooter killed nine people, including herself; they had earlier given a mistaken death toll of 10.Mr. McDonald said that the suspect, Jesse Van Rootselaar, was biologically born male and began transitioning to female six years ago. He added that the police would continue identifying her as a female. He said that the authorities were not yet able to say why the suspect had carried out the murder spree, one of the worst in Canadian history.Ms. Van Rootselaar and her family were known to the authorities, Mr. McDonald said, adding that the police had last visited the home in the spring for mental health issues that included self harm.“Police had attended that residence on a number of occasions over the last several years dealing with concerns of mental health with our suspect,” Mr. McDonald said, referring to the home where the suspect’s mother and stepbrother were found dead. On one of those occasions, he said, “firearms were seized.”He added that the police, who arrived at the school while the suspect was still shooting, had recovered a long gun and a modified handgun from the scene.The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said on Tuesday afternoon that nine bodies had been recovered: those of six victims and the suspected shooter at the local secondary school, and two others at the private residence.In addition, the police said, two people were severely wounded and airlifted to a hospital, where they were in critical but stable condition. Officials had earlier said at least 25 people were wounded, but the police clarified on Wednesday that 25 people were assessed for possible injuries, but the majority were not physically hurt.“This morning, families in Tumbler Ridge British Columbia woke to a different world,” Prime Minister Mark Carney said on Wednesday, speaking in Parliament. “Parents, grandparents, brothers, sisters began this day as their first day on earth without someone they loved dearly.”Switching to French, Mr. Carney, who teared up earlier speaking to reporters, said, “parents in Tumbler Ridge sent their children off to school on Tuesday, and some will never be able to hug their children again.”Pierre Poilievre, leader of the Conservative Party and of the parliamentary opposition, said: “No parent should ever have to fear that their child will not return home from school. No parent should ever bury their own child.”The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said the suspect died of a self-inflicted wound.The scale of the shooting is devastating for the remote town of just 2,400 people, on the eastern flank of the Rockies, where few people are strangers. Tumbler Ridge boomed and then declined in the last century along with the local coal mining industry, and has been attempting a comeback based on outdoor tourism.“It’s a town of miners, teachers, construction workers, families who have built their lives there, people who have always shown up for each other,” through recessions, wildfires and other crises, Mr. Carney said. “Tumbler Ridge represents the very best of Canada: resilient, compassionate and strong.”Here’s what else to know:Canadian leader: Mr. Carney suspended his planned travel to Germany, where he was scheduled to give a speech Friday at the Munich Security Conference, an annual global defense and foreign policy forum. Messages of support and condolences poured in from global leaders.Royal reaction: King Charles III, who is the head of state of Canada, issued a statement on Wednesday together with his wife, Queen Camilla: “We can only express our deepest possible sympathy to the families who are grieving the unimaginable loss of their loved ones and those awaiting news from hospital,” they said.Rare mass shooting: The violence in Tumbler Ridge was the second mass casualty event in British Columbia in the past twelve months, but a rare mass shooting for Canada. The deadliest in the country’s history took place in Nova Scotia, in 2020, when a gunman killed 22 other people in multiple locations, then killed himself.ImageThe secondary school in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, that was the scene of a mass shooting, on Wednesday.Credit...Jennifer Gauthier/ReutersTumbler Ridge, British Columbia, was a stunned town on Wednesday, plucked out of its quiet existence and struggling to absorb that it had become a focus of international attention as the site of one of Canada’s worst mass shootings.On a bitingly cold, windy but sunny afternoon, residents were embracing in the town center, and wiping away tears. At the local community center, a space staffed with mental-health professionals had been designated as a victims’ services area, where no media was allowed.At the secondary school where a shooter killed several students, aged 11 to 13 years, and a teacher, and where the suspect turned her weapon on herself, police tape rustled in the wind. Journalists gathered nearby and two police officers kept an eye on the unassuming red brick building. At a nearby tree, people left bunches of pink and yellow flowers, and stuffed animals in a makeshift memorial.The second crime scene, the home where the police say the suspect, Jesse Van Rootselaar, 18 killed her mother and 11-year-old stepbrother, was surrounded by a single strip of yellow police tape, while a police officer kept guard.In the front yard lay evidence of a family life that will never be the same: a small bike on its side, and a red wooden dollhouse.The province has declared Thursday a day of mourning and canceled an event, called a throne speech, that formally opens the new session of provincial parliament in Victoria, British Columbia. Instead, members of the legislative assembly will hear a speech dedicated to the people of Tumbler Ridge.Sara HarowitzReporting from Tumbler Ridge, British ColumbiaAt the secondary school where several students were killed, police tape rattled in the wind and members of the news media gathered nearby. Two police officers kept an eye on the red brick building. At a nearby tree, people have left bunches of pink flowers and stuffed animals in a makeshift memorial. ImageCredit...Alana Paterson for The New York TimesSara HarowitzReporting from Tumbler Ridge, British ColumbiaOn a bitingly cold, windy but sunny afternoon in Tumbler Ridge, residents are embracing and wiping away tears in the town center. At the local community center, a space staffed with mental-health professionals has been designated as a victims’ services area.In a news release, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police corrected a death toll provided on Tuesday, saying 9 people, including the suspect, died in the shooting episode, rather than 10 people. The police initially believed a “female victim with significant injuries” died while being transported to receive medical care. She is alive, but remains “in serious condition.”Alana PatersonThe Canadian flag flew at half-staff on Wednesday at a fire station in Fort St. John, a day after the mass shooting at a secondary school in nearby Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia. Prime Minister Mark Carney ordered Canadian flags to be flown half-staff for seven days at government buildings across the country.VideoCreditCredit...Alana Paterson for The New York TimesSara HarowitzReporting from Tumbler Ridge, British ColumbiaThe house where the mother and stepbrother of the suspect were killed is surrounded by a single strip of yellow police tape on Wednesday afternoon. A small bike is on its side in the front yard, and one law enforcement officer is parked nearby, keeping watch. Police had visited the suspect’s home multiple times in response to mental health calls, said Dwayne McDonald, the deputy police commissioner. The suspect was apprehended and taken for a health assessment more than once, he said. He was unable to confirm if she was receiving mental health care or support at the time of the shooting.The people killed at the school were a 39-year-old female educator, three 12-year-old female students, a 12-year-old male student and a 13 year-old male student. The shooter’s mother, 39, and stepbrother, 11, were also killed.ImageCredit...Jennifer Gauthier/ReutersTwo wounded victims who were airlifted to hospitals are in “critical but stable” condition, according to Dwayne McDonald, a deputy commissioner at the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in British Columbia.Most of the students who were killed were found in the library and one was located in the stairwell, McDonald said. He added that the first shooting happened at the residence. VideoCreditCredit...Royal Canadian Mounted Police, via Associated Press“Police had attended that residence on a number of occasions over the last several years dealing with concerns of mental health with our suspect,” Dwayne McDonald, the deputy commissioner, said, referring to the home where the suspect’s mother and stepbrother were found dead. On one of those occasions, “firearms were seized.” The most recent police call to the residence was in the spring of last year.“We don’t have an idea yet as to motive,” McDonald said.Police have not identified the firearms or their specific ownership. The shooter had a license that expired in 2024 and did not have any firearms registered to her. She dropped out of school about four years ago, police said.The adult woman and male youth found dead in the private residence were the mother and stepbrother of the shooter, the police said.ImageCredit...Trent Ernst/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesDwayne McDonald, a deputy commissioner at the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in British Columbia, said the suspect was born as a biological male and chose to identify as a female. Van Rootselaar chose to begin to transition to female about six years ago, McDonald told reporters.Police have identified the female shooter as 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar. McDonald, the deputy commissioner, said there was active gunfire when police arrived on the scene. Officers found Van Rootselaar dead by a self-inflicted gunshot wound shortly after.VideoCreditCredit...CBC, via ReutersDwayne McDonald, a deputy commissioner at the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in British Columbia, said members from the local police detachment arrived within two minutes of the 911 call. A long gun and a modified handgun was found by police, McDonald said.Addressing Canada’s Parliament, Prime Minister Mark Carney paid tribute to the “teachers and school staff who acted with extraordinary courage to protect the children in their care.” He also noted the families in Tumbler Ridge who “woke to a different world” because they lost someone they loved.Prime Minister Mark Carney of Canada has cancelled his trip to Germany, where he was due to address the Munich Security Conference on Friday, his office said.ImageCredit...Spencer Colby/The Canadian Press, via Associated PressA delegation of senior Canadian government officials will travel to Tumbler Ridge on Wednesday, including the minister for public safety and the premier of the province of British Columbia, Mr. Carney’s office said.Nicole Noksana, the president of the parent advisory council at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School, said the community is left in “unimaginable heartbreak” and struggling to come to grips with the attacks. “There are no words that can ease the fear and pain that events like this cause in a school community,” she said in a statement.Students and teachers hid in Tumbler Ridge Secondary School for hours during the shooting.ImageJarbas Noronha, a shop teacher, outside Tumbler Ridge Secondary School in 2024. He hid with 15 students behind locked doors on Tuesday.Credit...Jarbas NoronhaJarbas Noronha was teaching his 12th grade auto mechanic shop class how to change oil Tuesday at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School. Students with good attendance are sometimes allowed to work on their own vehicles, and one student went to the parking lot to fetch his car.He instead came back saying he heard gunshots outside, Mr. Noronha said. About two minutes later, the school’s principal, Stacie Gruntman, came to the door of the shop, shouting “Lockdown!”The shop is far from the school’s main entrance and the principal’s office. Mr. Noronha said he and 15 students locked the hallway door and the two garage doors that opened into the school yard. Two metal benches were used as barricades.“We were in the safest part of the school,” he said in a phone interview. “If someone tried to break in through the hallway door, we would run to the yard through the garage doors.”Mr. Noronha said he kept his eye on a large wall clock in the shop. His class stayed in the garage for more than two hours until police officers knocked on the garage door and escorted them to the school’s recreational center.It was not until Mr. Noronha reached his home around 7 p.m. that he learned of the extent of the violence. It was the third deadliest shooting in Canada’s history. Seven people were found dead in the school, including the suspected shooter, according to the authorities. Two other people were found dead in a local residence and another person died while being transported to a hospital, the police said.The shooting has shaken the residents of Tumbler Ridge, a remote town of 2,400 people in northeastern British Columbia. Mr. Noronha said he has taught auto mechanic and wood shop at the high school for two years, after moving there from his native Brazil in 2022 to be with his wife, a Tumbler Ridge resident.“This is a hunting town. Everyone has guns here,” he said.The police have not provided the identities of the suspected shooter and the victims, and they have also not commented on the shooter’s motive. Officers were still notifying the victims’ families, Premier David Eby of British Columbia said in a news briefing on Tuesday night.Students and staff were held in the recreational center as the authorities conducted a head count, Mr. Noronha said. A shelter-in-place order for the town was lifted at 6:47 p.m. and parents were allowed to pick up their children.The school district has closed both Tumbler Ridge Secondary School and Tumbler Ridge Elementary School for the rest of the week. Provincial authorities said trauma counselors would be sent to the town to support the community.“I’m quite calm, but I still don’t know how many students were hurt,” Mr. Noronha said. He added that Ms. Gruntman, the principal, told teachers they would be notified by email when the school would reopen.“I don’t think many students are in a condition to go back now,” he said.Canada launched major gun reforms in 2020 after its deadliest mass shooting.ImageA makeshift memorial in Portapique, Nova Scotia, for the victims of Canada’s deadliest mass shooting in 2020.Credit...Tim Krochak/ReutersThe fatal shootings in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, on Tuesday came as Canada’s federal government faces hurdles in a national gun buyback program that has proved politically unpopular and a logistical quagmire.The country’s deadliest mass shooting, in Nova Scotia, precipitated the creation of the program after 23 people, including the attacker, died in April 2020.Days after that attack, Justin Trudeau, the prime minister at the time, announced a ban on 1,500 types of assault-style weapons. In the subsequent years, the federal government has gradually widened its gun reform project, announcing a freeze on handgun sales and expanding the list of firearms covered under the initial ban.The police have not released any information about the firearms used in the Tumbler Ridge shootings on Tuesday, or how the suspected shooter came to obtain them.By far the most contentious part of Canada’s firearms reform has been a multimillion-dollar gun buyback program targeting owners of “military-style assault rifles,” which include a wide range of long guns and rifles, like those used to hunt animals.The gun buyback has been a politically divisive issue in Canada, where firearm ownership is already strictly regulated.Handguns are the most common type of firearm used in crimes, according to federal data. In cities with higher rates of gun violence, the vast majority of firearms linked to crimes are traced back to the United States.Gun owners and lobby groups have criticized the buyback for putting an undue emphasis on rifles, which are an essential part of life in many rural areas. They are common on Indigenous reserves where the hunting of animals like caribou and moose is an important source of food and community engagement.Some of the critics come from within Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberal government. Gary Anandasangaree, Canada’s public safety minister, was heard in September last year criticizing the program in a leaked audio recording, in which he said the police do not have enough resources to enforce the buyback.Several police forces and the national postal service have refused to participate in collecting firearms under the buyback, citing either safety concerns or staffing constraints.There are roughly 1.3 million registered firearms in Canada, according to federal police data.Tumbler Ridge is a small, remote town surrounded by wilderness.ImageThe Tumbler Ridge Secondary School on Wednesday. The district’s website said the school’s small size created a “tremendous sense of community” between staff and students.Credit...Jesse Boily/The Canadian Press, via Associated PressTumbler Ridge, the remote British Columbia town where a shooter killed 9 people on Tuesday at a school and residence before dying of a self-inflicted injury, has a population of about 2,400 people and lies near the border with Alberta.The town sits at the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, in the province’s northeast, and is surrounded by expansive mountain ranges and a geological park recognized by UNESCO, the United Nations cultural agency. It is so remote that cellphone service cuts out about 30 seconds into a car ride out of town, said Danielle Roscher, the owner of a local outdoor tour company.Against that backdrop, the attacks that unfolded on Tuesday are even more unsettling, she said. “It just doesn’t even seem real.”Tumbler Ridge Secondary School, where the shooting occurred, has 160 to 175 students, according to the websites for the school district and provincial government. Because of the school’s small size, there is a “tremendous sense of community” between staff and students, the district’s website said.In addition to the secondary school, the town has just one elementary school and one college, according to the town’s official website.Tumbler Ridge was once a mining hub, home to two major mines that shut down in 2000 and 2003. Later, officials began a marketing campaign encouraging people to relocate to Tumbler Ridge for its affordable housing and proximity to nature. Now, the town is known for its outdoor tourism.Most of the province of British Columbia is policed by federal officers because rural towns like Tumbler Ridge are not populous enough to have their own municipal police forces.