Canadian police have identified the suspect behind the deadly shooting attack at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School.
According to The Guardian, authorities on Wednesday, February 11, revealed that the suspect behind the massacre in remote British Columbia was an 18-year-old woman with a history of mental health issues.
The suspect named as Jesse Van Rootselaar was found dead at the scene from a self-inflicted gunshot.
Dwayne McDonald, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) deputy commissioner, said, “I can say that Jesse was born as a biological male who approximately six years ago began to transition to female. Police had attended that (family) residence on multiple occasions over the past several years, dealing with concerns of mental health with respect to our suspect.”
Six people, including five students aged 12 to 13 and a teacher, lost their lives in the shooting attack. Police also found two other people dead in a house who were later identified as the 39-year-old stepmother of the suspect and her 11-year-old brother.
It was one of the deadliest mass shooting attacks in the recent history of Canada.
McDonald told media, “This is a deeply distressing incident where nine individuals have senselessly lost their lives.”
Police have said that the investigation of the incident is currently at the initial stage and the motive behind the shooting is not known yet.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who has suspended his trip to Germany for the Munich Security Conference, ordered flags on the government buildings to be flown at half-mast for a week.
