Canada school shooting latest: Police identify 18-year-old suspect in killing of eight including mother and brother
An 18-year-old girl was identified as the person who fatally shot six people at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School and two other people at a private residence Tuesday in one of Canada’s deadliest mass shootings in history.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said in a press conference Wednesday afternoon that Jesse Van Rootselaar killed her 39-year-old mother and 11-year-old stepbrother at the home before opening fire at the school.
Six people were killed at the high school: 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. RCMP have not publicly identified the names of the victims yet.
Two more victims were airlifted to the hospital with “significant injuries,” police say.
Students and faculty at the high school, located in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, spent hours barricaded inside classrooms, offices and other corners of the school after the principal directed everyone to lock their doors.
Investigators have not identified a motive for the shooting, but said that police had responded to calls at the residence multiple times over the last several years due to “concerns” about the suspect’s “mental health.”
