BURST
In a YouTube post six months ago, Jesse Van Rootselaar wrote: “I’ve been pretty um, aimless.”
The now-deleted channel’s description read: “None of this makes sense.”
The account’s profile image featured a female anime character and a rifle set against a pink-and-white-striped background.
Rootselaar, 18, was identified Wednesday as the person behind a mass shooting that killed eight people Tuesday in the rural northeastern B.C. community of Tumbler Ridge, RCMP confirmed. It was one of the deadliest shootings in Canadian history.
Four years ago, Van Rootselaar’s mother, Jennifer Strang, promoted the teenager’s YouTube channel in a Facebook post, noting that her child “posts about hunting, self-reliance, guns.”
By Wednesday afternoon, the profile had been removed for violating the platform’s community guidelines.
A TikTok account using the same profile image, under the username “jessestrangg,” reposted multiple videos of 28-year-old Audrey Hale, who in March 2023 shot and killed six students after opening fire at a Christian school in Nashville.
The motive for the shooting this week in Tumbler Ridge remains under investigation.
Police investigators believe the shooter first killed her 39-year-old mother and 11-year-old stepbrother at a home at 112 Fellers Ave., before travelling to Tumbler Ridge Secondary School and launching a second attack. Police said a 39-year-old female teacher, three 12-year-old female students and two male students ages 12 and 13 were killed. Two other victims were airlifted to the hospital for emergency care.
Authorities said officers had been called to the shooter’s home repeatedly over the years.
“Police had attended that residence on multiple occasions over the past several years, dealing with concerns of mental health with respect to our suspect,” said RCMP Deputy Commissioner Dwayne McDonald.
During one of those visits, “firearms were seized,” McDonald said. They were eventually returned to the lawful owner following a petition. More than once, police apprehended Van Rootselaar for assessment under the province’s Mental Health Act.
The last police visit, in the spring, was in response to concerns about the suspect’s mental health and self-harm.
Van Rootselaar, who dropped out of school four years ago, wasn’t related to any of the school victims, McDonald said.
She was assigned male at birth but began transitioning six years ago, he added.
In August 2020, Strang was tagged in a birthday post recounting Jesse’s 13th birthday celebration, which included a photograph of the teen holding two cakes.
Police believe Van Rootselaar opened fire at the Fellers Avenue residence on Tuesday before doing the same at Tumbler Ridge Secondary.
Police arrived at the high school at about 1:20 p.m. while bullets were still being fired. Some rounds were shot in their direction. Within minutes, officers found Van Rootselaar dead with what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Authorities recovered a long gun and a modified handgun. McDonald said that the suspect’s firearms licence expired in 2024. She didn’t have any guns registered to her during the time of the shooting.
Most of the victims killed within the high school were found in the library. One was found in the stairwell, McDonald said. More than 25 people were triaged for possible injuries, with the majority being unharmed.
Police said they weren’t informed about the scene at the home until about 1:47 p.m., after the school shooting, when a resident called 911.
“There was a young female at that home that went to the neighbour’s — that’s how we learned that there were two deceased at that residence,” McDonald said.