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Nine people, including the shooter, died following a shooting at a high school in western Canada on Tuesday, one of the deadliest mass shootings in the country’s recent history. Police have revised the death toll down from ten to nine.
Canadian police identified the shooter as an 18-year-old woman with a history of mental health issues, but have not disclosed a motive.
The shooter, identified by police as Jesse Van Rootselaar, died by suicide following the shooting on Tuesday in Tumbler Ridge, a remote community in British Columbia.
“We have a history of police attendance at the family residence. Some of those occurrences related to mental health concerns,” Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) British Columbia Commanding Officer Dwayne McDonald said at a press conference.
Earlier, Prime Minister Mark Carney, visibly shaken, promised Canadians that they would overcome what he called a “terrible” shooting. The attack ranks among the deadliest in Canadian history.
Canada has stricter gun laws than the United States, but Canadians can own firearms with a license.
The site of the shooting is a remote municipality with a population of approximately 2,400 people, situated at the foot of the Rocky Mountains in northern British Columbia, roughly 717 miles northeast of Vancouver. Images of Tumbler Ridge show a snow-covered landscape dotted with pine trees.
According to the school’s website, Tumbler Ridge Secondary School has 160 students in grades seven through twelve, aged 12 to 18. The school will remain closed for the rest of the week and will offer psychological support to students in need, school officials said.
Authorities said the town’s small police force arrived on the scene within two minutes of receiving the call, and victims were still being assessed hours after the incident.
“This is a small, tight-knit community, with a small RCMP detachment as well, that responded in two minutes, undoubtedly saving lives today,” said Nina Krieger, British Columbia’s Minister of Public Safety, to reporters.
Here are some of the largest massacres in Canadian history
- April 2025:
- VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA – Eleven people died and dozens were injured when a man with a history of mental health issues drove a pickup truck into a crowd at a Filipino community festival.
- September 2022:
- WELDON, SASKATCHEWAN – A series of stabbings left 10 people dead and 18 injured across 13 different locations in the small communities of James Smith Cree Nation and Weldon in rural Saskatchewan.
- April 2020:
- PORTAPIQUE, NOVA SCOTIA – A shooter, who at one point disguised himself as a police officer, killed at least 16 people in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia during a 13-hour rampage, before being shot dead by police at a gas station about 56 miles from the site of his first murders.
- July 2018:
- TORONTO, ONTARIO – A man walked along a busy street in Toronto, randomly shooting at restaurants. He killed two people and injured 13 before turning the gun on himself.
- January 2017:
- QUEBEC CITY, QUEBEC – A man opened fire during evening prayers at a mosque, killing six people and injuring five. A dozen others received treatment for minor injuries.
- January 2016:
- LA LOCHE, SASKATCHEWAN – A student killed his two brothers at home before opening fire at a remote community’s high school, killing two more and injuring seven others.
- April 2014:
- CALGARY, ALBERTA – The son of a veteran Calgary police officer was arrested after five people were stabbed to death at a house party.
- December 2014:
- EDMONTON, ALBERTA – A man killed eight people, including his wife, before killing himself.
- June 2014:
- MONCTON, NEW BRUNSWICK – A shooter killed three Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) officers and injured two others.
- March 2005:
- MAYERTHORPE, ALBERTA – A man killed four RCMP officers who were at his home to execute a search warrant for property. The man then committed suicide.
- April 1999:
- OTTAWA, ONTARIO – A former employee of Ottawa’s transit service killed four colleagues and injured two others before taking his own life.
- April 1996:
- VERNON, BRITISH COLUMBIA – A man killed nine relatives gathered for his ex-wife’s sister’s wedding and injured two others before killing himself.
- December 1989:
- MONTREAL, QUEBEC – A shooter killed 14 students, all women, and injured 13 at École Polytechnique before committing suicide.
In response to the shooting, Prime Minister Mark Carney postponed a planned announcement on Wednesday in Halifax regarding a new Defence Industrial Strategy and the subsequent trip to Germany for the Munich Security Conference, a spokesperson said.
“I am devastated by today’s horrific shootings in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia. My thoughts and deepest condolences are with the families and friends who have lost loved ones in these horrific acts of violence,” Carney said on X.
Canada has stricter gun laws than the United States, but Canadians can possess firearms if they obtain a license.
Since 2020, the government of former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has introduced a series of restrictions on the possession of short-barreled firearms and military-style weapons, in part in response to a mass shooting in Nova Scotia and the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas.
However, attempts to ban certain types of rifles and shotguns were abandoned following opposition from farmers and hunters.
