18 year old found suspect in British shooting case

An 18-year-old has been named as the suspect in a shooting that killed eight people and injured dozens more in British Columbia, Canada. Police said Jesse Van Rootselaar was found dead at the scene from a self-inflicted gunshot injury. The motive for the attack is not yet known.

Six people were killed and at least 25 others were injured at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School. Two others – the suspect’s mother, 39, and step-brother, 11 – were found dead at a nearby home. Hundreds of mourners gathered to exchange comfort and moments of silence in Tumbler Ridge’s main square and outside the British Columbia legislature in Victoria on Wednesday night.

“Schools should be safe,” said Tumbler Ridge vigil attendee Gigi Rejano said, according to the AFP news agency, while others cried nearby and pictures of victims were laid near a tree.

In Victoria, speaker of the legislature Raj Chouhan said, “We can only pray together, hold hands together and send our love to all those people”, according to a local journalist.

Other suspects in the shootings are not thought to be involved, according to authorities.

Over the course of several years, police reported that they had made numerous visits to the suspect’s family home, some of which were connected to mental health issues.

According to authorities, Van Rootselaar identified as a woman even though he was born a biological male.Van Rootselaar was known to police, and “we’ve begun the process of reaching out to” the public health care system to “understand what interactions may have taken place,” British Columbia Premier David Eby told a news conference outside the Tumbler Ridge town hall late on Wednesday evening.

According to McDonald, the suspect’s previous gun license was still valid but had since expired.

Police were notified of an active shooter at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School on Tuesday around 13:30 local time (20:30 GMT). Within two minutes of the call, officers were on the scene, heard gunfire, and went into the school, according to McDonald.

They found the gunman in a matter of minutes, and he was dead from what the police said was a self-inflicted gunshot wound.After that, police started looking for victims all over the school. Two victims are still in the hospital after being transported there by air ambulance.
About 2,400 people live in Tumbler Ridge, and 160 students in Grades 7–12 attend the secondary school there.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said the students and teachers “bore witness to unheard-of cruelty” during the shooting, noting that some victims remain in hospital “fighting for their lives”.

Tumbler Ridge Mayor Darryl Krakowka told reporters late on Wednesday the close-knit community was “one big family.” “Lend your ear when someone needs your ear,” he said, growing emotional at times. “Lend your shoulder when someone needs your shoulder. Give somebody a hug.”