A witness said the teenager who carried out the deadly shooting in a remote Canadian town may have targeted the school where his siblings attended.
Van Rootselaar may have created a video game that allowed players to simulate a mass shooting.
However, authorities have not yet released the official motive for the incident and have stated that the investigation is still ongoing.
The suspect has been identified as 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar. According to initial reports, on February 10th, he shot and killed his 39-year-old mother and his 11-year-old half-brother before going to a high school in the town and continuing his shooting spree, killing five students and a teacher. The suspect then committed suicide.
According to The Telegraph , witness Duncan McKay, 17, said the incident occurred while he was playing badminton at his high school in the town of Tumbler Ridge. Duncan recounted hearing more than a dozen gunshots, sounds “like hammers hitting metal,” before he and his classmates ran to find cover.
Duncan said he did not know the suspect, but Van Rootselaar’s younger brother and sister attended the same school as him. The suspect’s brother was reportedly at the school at the time of the incident. “I think he came to school to look for his family,” Duncan told The Telegraph. However, among the victims were five students aged 12 to 13 and a 39-year-old teacher, none of whom were related to the suspect.
Another local resident said they had heard similar speculations but could not confirm the information. Police said they could not yet conclude on the motive and warned that the process of clarifying the cause could take a long time.
On February 12, authorities confirmed the identities of the victims as Zoey Benoit, Ticaria Lampert, Kylie Smith, Abel Mwansa (12 years old), Ezekiel Schofield (13 years old), and teacher Shannda Aviugana-Durand (39 years old). The victims are believed to have died in the school library and stairwell.
Recounting the events of the afternoon of February 10th, Duncan said that after the gunshots rang out, the students ran into the storage room, turned off the lights, and remained silent for about three hours until the police announced that the situation was under control.
According to The Telegraph, posts from Van Rootselaar’s later-deleted social media accounts revealed that the suspect had experienced significant personal difficulties, including issues related to mental health and gender transition. However, police said there was no evidence to suggest the suspect was bullied at school for these reasons.
Some reports on February 12th suggested the suspect may have previously created a video game simulating a mass shooting . The Roblox platform confirmed to The Telegraph that it had removed the account associated with the incident and all content related to the suspect, and pledged to cooperate with law enforcement in the investigation.
The shooting has shaken the small community of about 2,400 people in Tumbler Ridge, a town nestled at the foot of the Rocky Mountains in British Columbia. Many residents said it was a place where “everyone knew each other,” but most had little contact with the suspect, describing him as reclusive.
Several neighbors said they rarely saw Van Rootselaar. Danny, 31, who lives a few houses away, said he had never met the suspect. Neal Smith, 39, said he knew other members of the family, but rarely saw the suspect. Van Rootselaar was identified as the eldest of five children.
According to police, the suspect’s family had been visited by police in the past, including for matters related to mental health and several incidents involving firearms. Van Rootselaar had undergone multiple health checkups. The most recent recorded contact between the suspect and police was last year. His gun permit expired in 2024, and no firearms were officially registered in his name.
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