Police had previously visited Jesse Van Rootselaar’s home multiple times and apprehended her for mental health assessments
Canadian police on Wednesday identified the person who carried out a deadly school shooting as an 18-year-old woman with mental health issues but did not give a motive for one of the worst mass killings in Canada’s history.
The killer, who police named as Jesse Van Rootselaar, died by suicide after the shooting on Tuesday in Tumbler Ridge, a remote community of 2,400 people in the Pacific province of British Columbia. Police revised the death toll down to nine, including Van Rootselaar, from the initially reported 10.
On more than one occasion, Van Rootselaar had been apprehended under the provincial Mental Health Act for an assessment, said Deputy Commissioner Dwayne McDonald, commander of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in British Columbia. She once attended the school but dropped out four years ago.
“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,” McDonald said.
Unlike the United States, school shootings are almost unheard of in Canada, and federal politicians initially struggled to maintain their composure.
“We will get through this. We will learn from this,” a visibly upset Prime Minister Mark Carney told reporters.
Source: News - South China Morning Post
