The killer, who police named as Jesse Van Rootselaar, committed suicide after Tuesday’s shooting in Tumbler Ridge, a remote community in the Pacific province of British Columbia. Police also revised the death toll down to nine from the initially reported 10.
“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,” said Deputy Commissioner Dwayne McDonald, commander of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in British Columbia.
Read moreMass shooting at British Columbia school leaves at least 8 dead, dozens wounded
McDonald said Van Rootselaar, who was born male but began to identify as a female six years ago, had first killed her mother, 39, and 11-year-old step-brother at the family home.
The killings at the home occurred first, he said. A young family member at the home went to a neighbour, who called police.
She then went to the school, where she shot a 39-year-old woman teacher as well as three 12-year-old female students and two male students, one aged 12 and one aged 13.
“We do believe the suspect acted alone ... it would be too early to speculate on motive,” he told a press conference.
“There is no information at this point that anyone was specifically targeted," McDonald said.
Police recovered a long gun and a modified handgun. McDonald said officers arrived at the school two minutes after the initial call. When they arrived, shots were fired in their direction.
More than 25 people were wounded Tuesday in the attack in the small mountain community of Tumbler Ridge, police said.
The town of 2,700 people in the Canadian Rockies is more than 1,000 kilometres northeast of Vancouver, near the provincial border with Alberta.
(FRANCE 24 with Reuters, AP)
English (US) · 