❓WHAT HAPPENED: An 18-year-old, Jesse Van Rootselaar, carried out a mass shooting at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School in British Columbia, killing six people and injuring 25 others before taking his own life. The decision by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) to identify Van Rootselaar as “female,” despite being a biological male, has drawn public backlash.
👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: Jesse Van Rootselaar, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), and victims, including students and staff at the school.
📍WHEN & WHERE: The shooting occurred on Tuesday afternoon at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School in British Columbia, Canada.
💬KEY QUOTE: “We identified the suspect as they chose to be identified in public and social media.” — Dwayne McDonald, Deputy Commissioner of British Columbia RCMP
🎯IMPACT: The tragedy has sparked outrage, with criticism directed at the RCMP’s focus on the shooter’s pronouns over the victims.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) has faced criticism over its choice of language when describing Jesse Van Rootselaar, the 18-year-old male responsible for the deadly mass shooting in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia. Canadian law enforcement initially described the shooter as “female,” but later as a “gunperson,” raising suspicions—now confirmed—that he was actually a male transgender.
RCMP Deputy Commissioner Dwayne McDonald defended the decision to claim that the suspect was “female,” arguing, “We identified the suspect as they chose to be identified in public and social media.” The male suspect self-identified as female about six years ago.
On February 10, Van Rootselaar killed his mother, Jennifer, 39, and 11-year-old stepbrother, Emmett, at their family home before heading to Tumbler Ridge Secondary School. There, the suspect opened fire, killing a teacher and five students, three girls and two boys, aged 12 to 17, before dying by suicide. At least 27 others were injured, including 12-year-old Maya Gebala, who was left in critical condition.
Van Rootselaar, a former Tumbler Ridge student who dropped out about four years ago, had a history of mental health issues and prior police interactions, including apprehensions for assessment. Family firearms seized under mental health provisions had been returned.
The shooting has drawn comparisons to law enforcement’s handling of other recent transgender shootings. These include Audrey Hale, a biologically female transgender who killed six at The Covenant School, a private Christian elementary school in Nashville, Tennessee, in March 2023. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) documents from late 2025 revealed Hale’s writings expressing hatred toward white people and religion, describing the target as a “predominantly white school (white pple I hate)” and a “Christian school (hate religion).”
Image by Oriel Frankie Ashcroft.
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