Forensic work underway at school after Tumbler Ridge shooting

TUMBLER RIDGE, B.C. — Forensic work is ongoing at a Tumbler Ridge school in the aftermath of a school shooting. 

At a press conference in Tumbler Ridge on February 13th, BC RCMP deputy commissioner Dwayne McDonald, shared updates about the Tumbler Ridge Secondary School shooting that happened on February 10th. 

This comes after eight people were killed by a shooter, who also died, in Tumbler Ridge. 

The deceased victims from the school include a 39-year-old female teacher, three 12-year-old girls and two boys between the ages of 12 and 13. 

Two additional victims, a 39-year-old woman and an 11-year-old boy, were found dead in a local residence nearby and are believed to be Van Rootselaar’s first victims. 

A vehicle connected to the suspect, 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar, a resident of Tumbler Ridge, was found outside school and is being processed, said McDonald. 

He shared: “Forensic work underway at Tumbler Ridge Secondary [School] will continue through the weekend. However, the home could be finished by tomorrow.

“Autopsies on the eight victims and the suspect are expected to be completed by the end of the weekend.” 

McDonald said the two surviving victims – Maya and Paige – are in the hospital. 

“More than 80 students, educators, first responders and additional witness interviews are ongoing and are being conducted using trauma-informed principals,” McDonald noted. 

Physical evidence such as images and videos from witnesses, CCTV footage and videos from body-worn cameras of the BC RCMP are being collected, prioritized and methodically processed, according to McDonald. 

The RCMP have prioritized the analysis on the two firearms located at the school. 

“The shotgun is believed to be involved in the homicides at the home and has never been previously seized by [the] police,” McDonald stated.

“Our investigation has also been able to determine that the main firearm believed to be used in the mass shooting at the school has also never been seized by the RCMP.” 

Officers are trying to identify the owners and the sources for all the other firearms. 

He shared that the two deceased victims at the residence had valid Possession and Acquisition Licence (PAL), but there was no firearm registered to that PAL. 

“There are certain types of firearms [that] do not have to be registered. So we’re trying to determine and trace the original firearms,” McDonald explained. 

Highlighting the complexity of the investigation at the school, McDonald said: “Our forensic investigators have been in that school since the incident.

“We have to marry up the physical scene as it presents with other evidence such as CCTV footage and body-worn camera, all that measurements and [it] has to be done in conjunction with the autopsies [and] medical examination.” 

The officers hope to be done with the investigation as soon as possible as the community needs to heal and children need to return to school at an appropriate time. 

McDonald highlighted how in most mass-shootings, “suspects throughout the globe have significant online presence and there’s sometimes indicators or communications with other like-minded individuals.” 

“A specialized team of investigators are also completing a thorough assessment of the suspect’s online activity and digital footprint,” McDonald said.

“In addition, we continue to review all previous police and professional interactions with the suspect.”

He explained there were many false flags and false trails on the internet. 

“A lot of [information on] social media that is coming out that is factually inaccurate…we urge extreme caution in the sharing of those images or the propagation of online hate or response, because it unfortunately can target innocent individuals,” he said. 

According to the press release, there has been some coverage and posts on social media that have included images of a person unrelated to the incident and this has resulted in false accusations. 

A confirmed image of the suspect has been shared and it urges the public to use verified information and confirm the accuracy of the images.  

The BC RCMP is asking witnesses who have not spoken to law enforcement to preserve relevant evidence and contact the investigators. 

The RCMP have launched an online portal to streamline the collection of additional evidence that may not have been shared with the police yet. 

A QR code has been created for the public to access the submission portal, click here to view the code.