BC RCMP say the suspect in a mass shooting in B.C.’s Peace Region is believed to have acted alone.
Eight people were killed in a school shooting Tuesday afternoon in Tumbler Ridge, with the suspected shooter also dead, bringing the total to nine.
Initial reports on Tuesday put the number of dead at 10, including the shooter, but that was later corrected to nine on Wednesday
The victims include a 39-year-old female educator, three 12-year-old female students, and two male students aged 12 and 13.
The shooter has been identified as 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootsleaar, a Tumbler Ridge resident.
“We do believe the suspect acted alone,” McDonald said.
He said they do have a history of police calls to the family residence involving Van Rootsleaar, including some mental health calls.
McDonald said a long gun and a modified handgun were recovered at the scene by the officers.
Two people were found dead in the home and McDonald confirmed that the female adult victim is Van Rootsleaar’s mother, 39, and the youth is her 11-year-old brother or stepbrother.
McDonald did provide some information about the suspect.
"We identified the suspect as they chose to be identified in public and in social media," he said.
"I can say that Jesse was born as a biological male, who, approximately, the information that I have, approximately six years ago, began to transition to female and identified as female both socially and publicly."
McDonald also said that Van Rootsleaar had some interactions with the police.
"Police have attended that residence in the past, approximately a couple of years ago, where firearms were seized under the criminal code," he added.
"I can say that at a later point in time, the lawful owner of those firearms petitioned for those firearms to be returned and they were."
-with files from Amy Judd/Global News
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