The gunman reportedly had a history of mental health issues and an expired firearms license<\/p>\n
A Canadian school shooting suspect who killed eight people and injured dozens did not have a specific target and was \u201chunting\u201d for victims, according to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).
\nThe 18-year-old transgender person, identified as Jesse Van Rootselaar, carried out the attack at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School in British Columbia on Tuesday, after killing her mother and 11-year-old stepbrother at the family home.\u00a0
\nThe suspect, a former student who dropped out about four years earlier, later killed herself after shooting five children and a teacher. 27 people were injured, including two who were airlifted to hospital with life-threatening wounds, officials said.
\n\u201cThere was no specific targeting of any individuals. This suspect was, for lack of a better term, hunting,\u201d RCMP Deputy Commissioner Dwayne McDonald told reporters. \u201cThey were prepared and engaging anybody and everybody they could come into contact with.\u201d <\/p>\n
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Police seized two firearms from the school, a long gun and a modified handgun, as well as a shotgun recovered at the residence. A \u201cnumber of other firearms\u201d were also seized, according to McDonald.
\nVan Rootselaar, who police said \u201chad a documented history of mental health concerns,\u201d had held a firearms license that expired in 2024. McDonald confirmed that \u201con different occasions the suspect was apprehended for assessment and follow-up.\u201d
\nPolice added that a couple of years ago, firearms were seized from Van Rootselaar\u2019s residence but were later returned to the lawful owner following a successful court petition. McDonald said investigators determined the main firearm believed to have been used in the school attack was not seized by the RCMP and that its origin remains unknown.
\nThe suspect\u2019s mother, Jennifer Strang, previously posted on social media about Van Rootselaar\u2019s interest in firearms. In one post in 2024, she shared an image showing rifles stored in a hunting case with the caption: \u201cit\u2019s time to take them out for some target practice.\u201d
\nBrian Landry, an RCMP-certified firearms instructor familiar with the community, said the system failed, arguing that a person with serious mental health issues should not have access to firearms.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The gunman reportedly had a history of mental health issues and an expired firearms license A Canadian school shooting suspect who killed eight people and injured dozens did not have…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":29027,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29026","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t