BURST
Jacob Jan Van Rootselaar, the older brother of Tumbler Ridge shooter Jesse Van Rootselaar, has been arrested and charged, Alberta RCMP confirmed Tuesday.
The 22-year-old was arrested on Thursday in Sylvan Lake, Alberta, on an “outstanding Canada Wide arrest warrant from a 2024 Fort McMurray attempted murder investigation,” Cpl. Troy Savinkoff told National Post over email.
Jacob was scheduled to appear in court in Red Deer on Monday.
He has additionally been charged with two counts of weapon offences and five counts of failure to comply with release conditions.
“He has been taken before a Justice of the Peace and remanded into custody for court at the Alberta Court of Justice in Red Deer,” Savinkoff said.
The massacre in the quiet community of Tumbler Ridge, B.C., on Feb. 10 was one of the worst mass shootings in Canadian history, killing five students and a teacher. Two surviving victims, Maya Gebala, 12, and Paige Hoekstra, 19, were taken to the hospital. Although Paige was later released, Maya remains in the hospital. On Saturday, her family revealed that the 12-year-old went through an emergency surgery.
“This update show just how critical Maya is with her injury,” Krysta Hunt, cousin of Maya’s mother Cia, said in an update on GoFundMe . “Please keep her in your thoughts. I believe it’s helped her this far.”
The shooter’s mother, 39, and half-brother, 11, were shot at home and were the shooter’s first two victims. The 18-year-old shooter was also found dead with self-inflicted gunshot wounds after carrying out the mass shooting.
“The BC RCMP offers sincere condolences to the families who have lost loved ones, and to the entire Tumbler Ridge community that is grieving alongside them,” Deputy Commissioner Dwayne McDonald, BC RCMP Commanding Officer, said on Feb. 12. “This is a time of deep sorrow, and many are still processing the weight of this tragedy.
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