‘Never think it could happen here’: Tumbler Ridge man tells of shock at victim count after deadly mass shooting

TUMBLER RIDGE, B.C. — A man whose grandchild attends the Tumbler Ridge school where a mass shooting took place has spoken about the tragedy.

The RCMP identified the February 10th assailant as 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar, a resident of Tumbler Ridge. 

According to the RCMP’s deputy commissioner, Dwayne McDonald, responders located Van Rootselaar with self-inflicted wounds and a pair of firearms – including a modified handgun with a licence which expired in 2024 – at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School.

The victims included five students between the ages of 12 and 13 and a 39-year-old teacher. Investigators also located two deceased victims – a 39-year-old woman and an 11-year-old boy – identified as the shooters’ mother and stepbrother – in a nearby residence.

In a statement, Tumbler Ridge mayor Darryl Krakowka wrote: “There are many questions to be answered as we all try to make sense of this incomprehensible and devastating event.”

Resident Kyle McKenzie moved to Tumbler Ridge from Redwater, and his grandchild attends the school.

He said he came to the township’s library around 1 p.m., and it was around an hour later when McKenzie says he “heard all the phones” identifying an ‘active shooter’ alert.

“You never think it’s gonna happen here to you,” said McKenzie. “[In] small communities, you know many of the people. They are like your own friend.

“I heard all the phones ring about 2 or 3 o’clock. I assumed it was that alert sound. I did not even have my cell phone with me and I thought, ‘what’s that all about?’”

He said his son came to the library an hour after, reporting there were as many as five victims, so McKenzie was “shocked” when he heard the initial estimate of 10.

That number was later revised to nine, including the shooter, after one victim did not succumb to their injuries as was believed. 

Because of the shootings, the town was locked down by the RCMP for a good part of the afternoon on February 10th.

McKenzie told Energeticcity.ca he didn’t see the police tape around the secondary school until earlier on Wednesday, adding the event was “a tragedy.”

The RCMP Major Crime Unit are investigating the Tumbler Ridge shooting, with McDonald saying police are still trying to establish a motive.