9 (2 at the perpetrator's home; 7 at the school, including the perpetrator)
Injured
27
Perpetrator
Jesse Van Rootselaar
Motive
Under investigation
On Tuesday, February 10, 2026, amass shooting occurred inTumbler Ridge, British Columbia, Canada. Eighteen-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar killed two relatives at a residence before killing five students and an education assistant at theTumbler Ridge Secondary School. Van Rootselaar, a former student at the school, died from a self-inflicted injury at the school. Twenty-seven others were injured.
Tumbler Ridge is a small mining town with a population of 2,399, according to the 2021 census.[4] Tumbler Ridge Secondary School is a public secondary school operated bySchool District 59 Peace River South and the designated secondary school for the town's primary school. For the 2025–26 school year, the school had 191 students fromgrades 7 to 12.[5]
An initial attack at a residence on Fellers Avenue resulted in the deaths of the attacker's mother and stepbrother.[12][13][14] The police had already been called to the school when they were alerted of this attack by a family member.[14]
School shooting
Van Rootselaar then went to Tumbler Ridge Secondary School with a modified handgun and a long gun[15] and opened fire, first killing a victim in a stairwell. She then killed five others in the school's library before committing suicide.[15] At approximately 2:20p.m.MST,[16] RCMP received a report of an active shooter at the school, which is approximately 1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi) from the private residence. An alarm in the school instructed students to close the doors for alockdown. Students then barricaded the doors with tables.[17][18] AnAlert Ready emergency alert was released in the region by the RCMP at around 3:15p.m. MST, asking residents toshelter in place due to the active shooter situation. Other schools in the area were also placed on lockdown. The police emergency alert was cancelled at 6:45p.m MST.[19][20] Premier of British ColumbiaDavid Eby said the police had reached the school within two minutes of the initial reports.[21]
Later on the same day, School District 59 announced that both schools in Tumbler Ridge would remain closed for the rest of the week.[22]
Victims
Six people were found dead inside the school; a seventh was mistakenly reported as deceased en route to the hospital, but survived.[23] The dead at the school were identified as a 39-year-old education assistant Shannda Aviugana-Durand,[24] three female students all aged 12, and two male students aged 12 and 13.[25][26][27] Two people were found dead at a residence in Tumbler Ridge.[28] RCMP confirmed that they were the perpetrator's mother, Jennifer Strang,[a] and the perpetrator's 11-year-old stepbrother.[24][30] Both had been shot before the perpetrator attacked the school.[31]
Jesse Van Rootselaar (August 4, 2007 – February 10, 2026)[40][41], also known asJesse Strang,[42][43][44] was identified as the shooter by RCMP deputy commissioner Dwayne McDonald,[18] after initially being described by the RCMP as "a female in a dress with brown hair".[45][46] McDonald stated that Van Rootselaar was atrans woman.[18][47] Van Rootselaar had dropped out of school about four years prior;[48] McDonald disclosed that there was no information that suggested she was bullied at school.[49][50] Jesse Van Rootselaar and her siblings had been the subject of custody disputes between their parents, and had moved betweenNewfoundland and Labrador and Western Canada multiple times between 2010 and 2015.[51] Van Rootselaar's father said that Jesse never used the Van Rootselaar name, and that he had not been part of Jesse's life "due to decisions by Jesse’s mother.".[52]
Van Rootselaar additionally described trying to "burn [her] house down after usingpsychedelic mushrooms, and regularly tookDMT – another powerful hallucinogenic drug."[54] After using psychedelic mushrooms in October 2023, she wrote: "I had a complete break from reality and did a lot of irrational things, I felt like I was dreaming. Many consequences ensued."[54] According toThe London Times, she claimed in 2023 to be treatingADHD andOCD withantidepressants andantipsychotic drugs.[55]
Van Rootselaar and her family were known to authorities; the police had last visited the home in spring 2025 regarding mental health issues.[23] Van Rootselaar had previously held a valid minor's firearms licence,[56] which allows for borrowing anon-restricted firearm; it had expired in 2024. She was not the owner of any firearms because acquiring and possessing firearms is not allowed with a minor's licence.[57][58] She had a history of poor mental health and police had responded several times previously for mental health-related calls.[40] RCMP confirmed that in a previous police visit in the past two years, "firearms were seized under theCriminal Code", but that "the lawful owner of those firearms petitioned for them to be returned, and they were."[59]
Investigation
PremierDavid Eby and Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor GeneralNina Krieger at a press conference the day of the shooting
RCMP superintendent Ken Floyd stated at a press conference the day of the shooting that they were investigating how the shooter was connected to the victims.[21] McDonald said in a February 11 press conference that police believed that Van Rootselaar had acted alone, and that they had not found a note or other communication from the shooter.[50] Police recovered a long gun and a modified handgun from the school.[49]
After the shooting, Tumbler Ridge councillor Chris Norbury described Tumbler Ridge as "an incredibly safe community", stating that "we don't have to worry about crime here".[69] Tumbler Ridge mayor Darryl Krakowka said, "I will know every victim. I've been here 19 years, and we're a small community".[70] On February 12, two days after the shootings, thePrime Minister's Office stated that Carney intended to visit Tumbler Ridge in the coming days, and that an appropriate schedule was being arranged with local officials.[71] Carney extended invitations to Opposition leaders to travel with him to the community on February 13.Conservative Party leaderPierre Poilievre,Bloc Québécois leaderYves-François Blanchet, and interimNDP leaderDon Davies confirmed that they would travel with the prime minister to attend.[72] Both before and after the perpetrator was revealed to be transgender, unsubstantiated claims involvingmisinformation about violence by transgender people were shared online.[73][74]
^Jayme Poisson; Caroline Barghout (February 12, 2026)."Tragedy in Tumbler Ridge" (Podcast).CBC.ca.We also know that two female victims were airlifted to hospital, right? A 12-year-old and a 19-year-old who both remain in serious condition and then most of the other people injured were released quite soon after they were brought to hospital.
^abc"What we know about Tumbler Ridge mass shooter Jesse Van Rootselaar".Vancouver Sun. February 11, 2026. RetrievedFebruary 12, 2026.A TikTok account using the same profile image, under the username 'jessestrangg,' reposted multiple videos of 28-year-old Audrey Hale, who in March 2023 shot and killed six people after opening fire on a Christian school in Nashville.
