Police have recognized the suspect in a faculty taking pictures in Canada as an 18-year-old who had prior psychological well being calls to her dwelling and who was discovered lifeless following the assault that killed 9 folks in a distant a part of British Columbia.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police Deputy Commissioner Dwayne McDonald on Wednesday (February 11, 2026) stated Van Rootselaar had a historical past of psychological well being contact with police and that the suspect’s mom and stepbrother have been additionally discovered lifeless in a house close to the college.
The motive remained unclear.
Greater than 25 folks have been wounded on Tuesday (February 10, 2026) within the assault within the small mountain neighborhood of Tumbler Ridge, together with two with life-threatening accidents who have been airlifted for medical care, police stated.
The village of two,700 folks within the Canadian Rockies is greater than 1,000 kilometres (600 miles) northeast of Vancouver, close to the provincial border with Alberta.
“Dad and mom, grandparents, sisters, and brothers in Tumbler Ridge will get up with out somebody they love. The nation mourns with you, and Canada stands by you,” Prime Minister Mark Carney stated as he arrived in Parliament.
The assault was Canada’s deadliest rampage since 2020, when a gunman in Nova Scotia killed 13 folks and set fires that left one other 9 lifeless.
Carney stated flags at authorities buildings might be flown at half-staff for seven days and added: “We are going to get by way of this.” Shelley Quist stated her neighbour throughout the road misplaced her 12-year-old. “We heard his mother. She was on the street crying. She wished her son’s physique,” Quist stated.
Quist stated her 17-year-old son, Darian, was on lockdown within the faculty for greater than two hours. The provincial authorities web site lists Tumbler Ridge Secondary College as having 175 college students in grades 7 to 12.
“The grade sevens and eights, I believe, have been upstairs within the library, and that’s the place the shooter went,” she stated. Her son was within the library simply quarter-hour previous to the assault.
Quist was working on the hospital down the road when the taking pictures began.
“I used to be about to go run right down to the college, however my co-worker held me again. After which I used to be in a position to get Darian on the cellphone to know he was OK,” she stated.
College shootings are uncommon in Canada, which has strict gun-control legal guidelines. The federal government has responded to earlier mass shootings with gun-control measures, together with a not too long ago broadened ban on all weapons it considers assault weapons.
British Columbia Premier David Eby informed reporters that police reached the college inside two minutes.
A video confirmed college students strolling out with their arms raised as police autos surrounded the constructing and a helicopter circled overhead.
Police discovered six folks lifeless, Royal Canadian Mounted Police Superintendent Ken Floyd stated. A seventh individual died whereas being transported to a hospital, and two extra have been discovered lifeless at a residence that authorities imagine was related to the assault.
Mr. Floyd informed reporters that investigators had recognized the suspect however wouldn’t launch a reputation. He stated police have been investigating the connection between the shooter and the victims.
Tumbler Ridge Mayor Darryl Krakowka stated it was “devastating” to study what number of had died locally, which he referred to as a “massive household”.
“I broke down,”Mr. Krakowka stated. “I’ve lived right here for 18 years. I most likely know each one of many victims.”
The college district stated the highschool and elementary faculty might be closed for the remainder of the week.
Mr. Carney’s workplace stated he referred to as off a deliberate journey to Halifax, Nova Scotia, and Munich, Germany. He had been set to announce a long-awaited defence industrial technique on Wednesday (February 11, 2026) in Halifax earlier than heading to Europe for the Munich Safety Convention.
Mr. Eby on Tuesday (February 10, 2026) stated he had spoken to the Prime Minister in regards to the “unimaginable tragedy”.
“I do know it’s inflicting us all to hug our children a little bit bit tighter tonight,” he stated. “I’m asking the folks of British Columbia to take care of the folks of Tumbler Ridge tonight.”
Printed – February 12, 2026 03:01 am IST