Province pledges answers, resources in wake of Tumbler Ridge mass shooting

'Every available resource'

UPDATE: 8:37 p.m.

B.C. Premier David Eby is promising long-term support for Tumbler Ridge, where more than a dozen grief counsellors have been brought in to help a tight-knit community that’s been “shaken to its core.”

A total of nine people are dead following Tuesday’s shootings, including the lone suspect who police said died at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School by suicide.

Among the dead are five students and a teacher, as well as the shooter's mother and stepbrother, both of whom died in the home they shared with Jesse Van Rootselaar.

Eby pledged answers Wednesday night for a community and province in mourning. He said he's been briefed by police on the shooter's interactions with the health system.

“There are going to be a lot of questions going forward, trying to learn lessons to do whatever we can to prevent a horrific event like this from happening again,” he said.

“Any questions that the police are unable to answer through a criminal investigation, we will answer through the processes that are available to us as the province.”

Police said Wednesday that the shooter had been apprehended in the past under the Mental Health Act, and that officers had attended several mental-health calls at the Van Rootselaar home in recent years, most recently last spring.

‘Every available resource'

Eby said the province will support Tumbler Ridge “for as long as it takes.” BC Children's Hospital is sending a team to Tumbler Ridge to provide youth mental health support for the community.

He said 13 counsellors are on the ground in the community, with more working to provide support and co-ordination.

“Every available resource is being mobilized,” he said.

Federal Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree pledged support from Ottawa, as well. The two spoke at a news conference Wednesday night alongside B.C. Public Safety Minister Nina Krieger and Tumbler Ridge Mayor Darryl Krakowka.

The dignitaries attended a vigil in the community prior to the news conference. Anandasangaree said he'd never seen so many kids at a vigil.

“The children who were there today are going to carry the scars of yesterday,” he said. "As they grow, we are going to need to continue to support them.”

Praise for police

Anandasangaree commended Tumbler Ridge Mounties for their response on Tuesday.

“The RCMP responded within two minutes of the call — their efforts helped save so many lives,” he said.

"I am so grateful for the leadership of Sgt. Bill Hughes, the detachment commander. … They protect us in unimaginable ways while sacrificing their own mental health and their own well-being.”

Krieger highlighted police bravery and speed, noting that officers arrived within minutes and ran toward uncertainty with “courage beyond measure.”

She said Mounties and other first responders showed “professionalism in the face of horror."

“The acts of violence that occurred here have shaken this community to its core,” she said. "They have shaken British Columbia, Canada, the entire world.”

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UPDATE 11:50 a.m.

RCMP confirmed Wednesday that the suspected Tumbler Ridge school shooter was an area teen, who police were familiar with.

Jesse Van Rootselaar, 18, is accused of fatally shooting two family members — mother and step brother— in their home Tuesday afternoon, before shooting six more people in the area high school. Van Rootselaar then died by suicide. Van Rootselaar was born a male, and for the last six years had identified as a female.

RCMP Deputy Commissioner Dwayne McDonald said that police had been called to the home of Van Rootselaar multiple times with mental health and firearms concerns being raised. Last spring was the last time police were called to the home. Van Rootselaar had dropped out of school about four years ago.

McDonald said the school shooting was reported to Tumbler Ridge RCMP at approximately 1:47 p.m. Within two minutes of that call, RCMP arrived to a chaotic scene.

“There was active gunfire, and as officers approached the school, rounds were fired in their direction,” McDonald said, adding later that RCMP did not return gunfire.

“Officers entered the school to locate the threat. Within minutes, an individual, confirmed to be the shooter, was located.”

Two firearms, a long gun and a modified handgun believed to belong to Van Rootselaar, were recovered by officers who attended the scene.

In addition to the shooter and the eight others who died, 25 others were injured. Two were airlifted to hospital in significant injuries, and are in “critical but stable condition.”

McDonald corrected some information that was shared yesterday and was ultimately incorrect. Initially police said there were 10 people who had died. In fact, the death toll was nine.

“Initially, it was believed that one of the victims a female with significant injuries, who was transported from the scene by our members and then transitioned to paramedics had succumbed to her injuries, police have since confirmed that is not the case,” he said.

“She is alive and was one of the two female victims that were airlifted to the hospital. Both of those victims remain in serious condition.”

The deceased victims from the school include an adult female educator, three female students and two male students between the ages of 13 and 17.

BC Major Crime Unit has assumed conduct of the investigation and is working to determine the full circumstances surrounding this tragic incident.

Among the answers being sought is why this crime occurred. McDonald said that there was no note left behind by the shooter and being "less than 24 hours into this incident... it would be too early to speculate."

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UPDATE 8:21 a.m.

Olympic men's hockey coach Jon Cooper grew up in Prince George, B.C., the closest major city to Tumbler Ridge, and remembers the growth of the community.

Tumbler Ridge was developed in the early 1980s as a purpose-built coal-mining town in northeastern B.C.

He said he stayed in the hotel there while growing up and had friends in what became an "instant town."

"Obviously, I haven't been back in a long time. But you think about tragedies that happen … usually they happen somewhere else, so you never really feel the effect of it touching close to home. But this one's close to home, and my heart goes out to all the families."

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UPDATE 7:15 a.m.

Prime Minister Mark Carney says flags on federal buildings will be flown at half-mast for seven days to honour the victims of the shooting.

"Parents, grandparents, brothers, sisters, are waking up this morning, without one of their loved ones. It is a difficult time. Canada is grieving, grieving with you," Carney said.

"We will get through this, we will learn from this, but right now, it's the time to come together as Canadians always do in these situations."

The prime minister added that he has heard from world leaders offering condolences in this time of mourning.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said it is a time for all Canadians to unite, to support the families and the community at large.

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6:12 a.m.

King Charles said he and Queen Camilla were profoundly shocked and saddened to learn of the attack and expressed their "deepest possible sympathy" to those grieving the loss of their loved ones.

"In such a closely connected town, every child's name will be known and every family will be a neighbour," he said in a statement.

"We can only begin to imagine the appalling shadow that has now descended across Tumbler Ridge and our hearts go out to all those whose lives have been shattered by this senseless act of brutal violence."

The King also thanked the police and staff at the town's health centre.

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5:15 a.m.

More politicians are offering their sympathies to victims and their loved ones on social media as news of the shootings spreads.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy say they are shocked by the attacks that left 10 dead, including the lone suspect.

Zelenskyy says no one should remain indifferent when children are killed, and that such tragedies should never happen in any country in the world.

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Condolences are trickling in from around the world this morning as police continue to investigate a pair of shootings that left 10 people, including the suspect, dead in a tiny community in northeastern British Columbia.

Politicians including Ontario Premier Doug Ford, French President Emmanuel Macron and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered their sympathies to the victims and their families on social media as news of the attacks in Tumbler Ridge, B.C. spreads.

RCMP have said police are "not in a place" to understand what motivated a shooter suspected of killing two people at a home before going to a school and committing one of Canada's worst mass shootings.

A total of 10 people are dead after the shootings Tuesday in the tiny community in B.C.'s Peace region, including the lone suspect who police said died at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School by suicide.

RCMP Supt. Ken Floyd said about 25 people were hurt at the school, including two with life-threatening injuries.

The school district said the high school and Tumbler Ridge Elementary School will be closed for the rest of the week.

The community went into a lockdown Tuesday that lasted several hours, after police were called about an active shooter at the school at 1:20 p.m. Residents sheltered in place in homes and community spaces as police searched for a suspect described as a "female in a dress with brown hair."

While police initially said they were searching for a possible second suspect, Floyd, the RCMP North District Commander, later said the shooter acted alone, and that they were the person described in the alert.

Tumbler Ridge Mayor Darryl Krakowka said that when he first heard the toll of the shootings that have devastated the community, he "broke down."

"I have lived here for 18 years," he said of the community that he called a "big family" of about 2,700 residents. "I probably know every one of the victims."

Police did not give the ages of the victims, and Floyd said he could not provide more details about the shooter, who was found with what were believed to be self-inflicted injuries.

He told a briefing that about 100 students and staff were evacuated from the school.

Prime Minister Mark Carney suspended a trip to Europe in light of what he called the "horrific shootings."

"I join Canadians in grieving with those whose lives have been changed irreversibly today, and in gratitude for the courage and selflessness of the first responders who risked their lives to protect their fellow citizens," Carney said on social media.

"Our ability to come together in crisis is the best of our country — our empathy, our unity, and our compassion for each other."

He said he had connected with B.C. Premier Eby to express his condolences, while federal Minister of Public Safety Gary Anandasangaree was co-ordinating the federal response.

B.C. Solicitor General Nina Krieger said that police were at the school within two minutes of receiving the call.

Floyd said that police who entered the school encountered a "very dramatic scene," finding six victims dead, as well as the body of the shooter, while another person died on their way to hospital.

B.C. Emergency Health Services says it received an initial call at 1:22 p.m. "Paramedics provided emergency medical treatment to two patients who were transported by air ambulance to hospital, one in critical condition, and one in serious but stable condition," the service said in a statement.

Floyd said about two dozen others were assessed and triaged at the local medical centre, adding that without the support of professionals at the clinic, "this would have been a far worse outcome."

Police said they identified a secondary location believed to be connected to the incident, and two people were found dead inside the residence.

"We are not in a place now to be able to understand why and what may have motivated this tragedy," Floyd said.

"This was a rapidly evolving and dynamic situation, and the swift co-operation from the school, first responders, and the community played a critical role in our response."

Supports were on the way for students, teachers, front-line workers and others impacted by what happened, Floyd said.

"At the end of the day, every citizen and every person in Tumbler Ridge, including our first responders, are going home to their families to try and explain this, and sometimes there's just not a way to explain this, so we'll continue providing that support however it's needed."

Larry Neufeld, MLA for Peace River South, which includes Tumbler Ridge, said the news was "beyond devastating."

"I don't know that my thoughts and prayers are enough for the people of Tumbler Ridge. I have given them everything I have in that respect, and I only wish I had a hundred times more to give, but it would never be enough."

Krakowka, who was speaking from Tumbler Ridge Town Hall, where he had been sheltering with about a dozen people, said he had been in contact with his two adult sons, including one who works in Tumbler Ridge.

"He's texting me to make sure that I'm OK. I have an older son, who lives down south, and he has done the same thing."

Eby said he wanted British Columbians and all Canadians "to wrap the people of Tumbler Ridge, wrap these families, with love."

"Not just tonight, but tomorrow and into the future. This is something that will reverberate for years to come," he told a media briefing. He said some of the injuries were "profoundly serious," while others were more minor.

"Government will ensure every possible support for community members in the coming days, as we all try to come to terms with this unimaginable tragedy," he said.

A statement from the District of Tumbler Ridge encouraged people to rely only on official statements for updates.

"We are grateful for the swift response of local emergency services and first responders. Additional supports are already here or on their way to assist the community," the statement said.

"In the days ahead, we know this will be difficult for many to process. Please check in on one another, lean on available supports, and know that Tumbler Ridge is a strong and caring community. We will get through this together."

Here is a look at some other school shootings in Canada:

La Loche high school, Sask: On Jan. 22, 2016, Randan Dakota Fontaine shot two of his cousins dead, then killed a teacher and a teacher's aide at the La Loche high school.

Les Racines de vie Montessori, Gatineau, Que.: On April 5, 2013, two men were killed during a shooting at the school's daycare. The shooter was identified as Robert Charron. Thirty-eight-year-old Neil Galliou was killed before Charron took his own life. Charron told staff to take the 53 children to safety before he opened fire.

W.C. Jeffreys Collegiate Institute, Toronto: On May, 23, 2007, 15-year-old Jordan Manners was found in a hallway with single gunshot wound to the chest. He later died in hospital. Two teens were charged with first-degree-murder and were later acquitted.

Dawson College, Montreal: On Sept. 13, 2006, 18-year-old Anastasia De Sousa was killed and 20 others were hurt when gunman Kimveer Gill, 25, opened fire with a semi-automatic weapon. Gill was killed in a police gunfight.

W.R. Myers High: Taber, Alta.: On April 28, 1999, a 14-year-old Grade 9 students shot three students, killing 17-year-old Jason Lang before he was arrested.

École Polytechnique, Montreal: On Dec. 6, 1989, 25-year-old Marc Lepine shot more than two dozen people, killing 14 women before killing himself. The school has since been renamed to Polytechnique Montréal.

Concordia University, Montreal: On Aug. 24, 1992, Valery Fabrikant, a mechanical engineering professor, shot four other Concordia University professors on the ninth floor of the Henry F. Hall Building, and wounded a secretary. Matthew McCartney Douglass and Michael Gorden Hogben died that day. Aaron Jaan Saber died the next day, and Phoivos Ziogas died on Sept. 23, 1992. Fabrikant was convicted for the murders and remains in prison.

— Ashley Joannou and Nono Shen in Vancouver and Wolfgang Depner in Victoria