Live updates: Police identify suspect as 18-year-old who killed eight people in Canada shooting

Officials said Jesse Van Rootselaar killed her 39-year-old mother and 11-year-old stepbrother at their home before opening fire at the high school. Five students, aged 12 to 13, and one 39-year-old female educator were killed.

Police said the suspect was born biologically male but had been transitioning to female over the past six years. She was not a student at the school but it was not immediately clear if she had previously studied at Tumbler Ridge Secondary.

A motive for the shooting is unclear, but police said they had made multiple visits to the suspect’s home over the last several years for concerns about mental health issues.

Canadian police said Wednesday there’s no information suggesting the suspected Tumbler Ridge shooter was bullied in school.

Dwayne McDonald, the deputy commissioner for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in British Columbia, said 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar was a biological male but began transitioning to a woman about six years ago.

A reporter had asked McDonald about “any information you have regarding Jesse experiencing bullying at the school [or] any sort of difficulty at the school because of the transition from male to female,” per the BBC.

McDonald said he had no information suggesting difficulty at school, including bullying, but noted she stopped attending school about four years ago.

What compelled the 18-year-old suspect to open fire in her private residence and a local high school is still unclear to authorities.

Investigators said Wednesday afternoon that they are still looking at a motive but said that the suspect was not currently attending school at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School.

It’s unclear if the suspect’s family had any connection to the school.

Thursday will be a day of mourning for the Canadian province of British Columbia after the tragic shooting that left eight people dead.

Members of the legislature will hear a speech dedicated to the people of Tumbler Ridge.

Authorities said a young female resident living in the home where the shooter killed their mother and younger stepbrother went to a neighbor’s house to call police.

McDonald said police received a call from the home around 2:47 p.m. local time – after receiving an alert from the school of an active shooter.

Two firearms were recovered from the scene – a long gun and a modified handgun.

It is unclear who the firearms were registered to. While the suspect had a gun license that expired in 2024, she did not have any firearms registered to her.

Authorities said the home where the suspect lived had a history of secured firearms.

The 12-year-old son of Pastor Abel Mwansa and Bwalya Chisanga is among the children who were fatally shot in a mass shooting at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School on Tuesday.

The boy was identified as Abel Mwsana Jr. in a Facebook post by Burning Bush Ministries, City of Grace Chapel.

“The loss has brought profound grief to the family, the church, and all who knew and loved him.”

Police in Canada said Wednesday afternoon nine people, including the shooter, had died in the Tumbler Ridge mass shooting – revising earlier numbers that claimed 10 people died.

Officials said in a press conference that an individual who was critically injured was believed to have died on the way to the hospital. However, that individual is still alive and in critical condition.