Police have provided additional information about the victims of a mass shooting in Tumbler Ridge, B.C.—while also clarifying nine people died, including the suspect, and not 10 as initially reported.
Six people were found dead at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School when police arrived on the scene of an active shooting Tuesday afternoon. On Wednesday, the RCMP said one was a 39-year-old female teacher, and the remaining five were students—three 12-year-old girls and two boys, who were 12 and 13.
Twelve-year-old Kylie Smith, who was the “light of her family,” is being identified by her grieving family as one of the students killed in a shooting at a Tumbler Ridge, B.C. high school Wednesday.
Her family spoke to CTV New Wednesday, from the small community that has been shattered by the shocking mass shooting that left nine people dead, including the suspect.
“She was just a beautiful soul. She loves art and anime. She wanted to go to school in Toronto, and we just loved her so much. She was thriving in high school,” her dad, Lance Young said.
“She never hurt a soul.”
The B.C. Major Crime Unit has assumed conduct of the investigation and is working to determine the full circumstances, said Deputy Commissioner Dwayne McDonald, commanding officer of the B.C. RCMP, at a news conference.
“There’s been much speculation within the community regarding the relationship between the shooter and some of the victims. All of that remains part of the active and ongoing investigation. We are not in a position to publicly confirm any specifics.”
The suspect who died of self-inflicted gunshot wounds at the school has been identified as Jesse VanRootselaar—an 18-year-old police said was “born as a biological male” and “identified as female, both socially and publicly.”
Two additional victims were found at what police described as a “secondary scene.” Mounties confirmed they were VanRootselaar’s mother and 11-year-old sibling. Their names were Jesse Strang and Emmett, CTV News has confirmed.
In its initial statement, the RCMP said three victims were airlifted from the school with “serious or life-threatening injuries,” and one died during transport. However, McDonald corrected that at the news conference, saying two females—aged 12 and 19—were airlifted to hospital. Both survived the night and, McDonald said they were “critical but stable.”
Of the two dozen others triaged for injuries, McDonald said the “majority” were not shot and “most of our victims are quite young.”
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