The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) have come under fire for their focus on the pronouns of a transgender school shooter during a press conference.
Jesse Van Rootselaar, an 18-year-old, opened fire in the library of Tumbler Ridge Secondary School in British Columbia on Tuesday afternoon, marking the second deadliest school shooting in Canadian history.
Van Rootselaar, who ended their own life after fatally shooting six individuals at the school and two family members, was officially identified by RCMP officials on Wednesday.
During a news conference, officers referred to Van Rootselaar as a woman, noting that Jesse had begun identifying as female six years ago at the age of 12.
“We identified the suspect in accordance with how they were publicly and socially identified,” stated Dwayne McDonald, the Deputy Commissioner of the British Columbia RCMP.
In addition, authorities used the term “gunperson” when referring to Van Rootselaar during an interview.
The department’s careful choice of words has now drawn backlash on social media, as questions remain about the victims – which include a teacher, as well as three girls and two boys between the ages of 13 and 17.
‘The fact that the Canadian government is more worried about labeling the murderer with the right pronoun than the victims should make Alberta vote 100 percent to leave Canada,’ one X user wrote.
Jesse Van Rootselaar, 18, opened fire in the library at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School in British Columbia on Tuesday afternoon
Dwayne McDonald, Deputy Commissioner of British Columbia RCMP, told reporters on Wednesday the department identified Van Rootselaar as a woman because that is how ‘they chose to be identified in public and social media’
‘I wanna live in a world where Canadian law enforcement is angrier at a mass shooter than the people misgendering them,’ Fox News radio host Jimmy Failla said.
A third also quipped that ‘Canada will only place blame on the firearm (as if it had a mind of its own), while ensuring its fervent correct pronoun references continue.’
Authorities have said that Van Rootselaar killed his mother, Jennifer, and brother, Emmett, at their home before opening fire at the secondary school on Tuesday afternoon.
He was known to law enforcement, as officials had to respond to multiple call-outs to his home over the years related to his mental health.
He even stopped attending school four years ago at the age of 14, and had to be ‘apprehended for assessment’ under the country’s mental health act at one point.
‘Police have attended that residence in the past, approximately a couple of years ago, where firearms were seized under the Criminal Code,’ McDonald said on Wednesday.
‘I can say that at a later point in time, the lawful owner of those firearms petitioned for those firearms to be returned, and they were.’
Van Rootselaar’s mother, Jennifer, did not have a valid license for firearms at the time of her death.
Authorities have said that Van Rootselaar killed his mother, Jennifer, and brother, Emmett, at their home before opening fire at the secondary school on Tuesday afternoon
Several people on social media called the RCMP out for its obsession over the gunman’s preferred pronouns while questions remained about the victims
Those who knew Van Rootselaar said the gunman was a ‘quiet kid’ who was often seen ‘sitting by himself in the corner’.
Liam Irving said Van Rootselaar’s mother and younger brother were well known in the Tumbler Ridge community and were ‘good friends’ of his family.
‘There’s not one person in this town right now that’s not affected by this,’ he told the Western Standard.
A parent whose son attends the school also said his child knew the alleged shooter and played sports with Van Rootselaar’s sister.
His son was at the academic institution on Tuesday when Van Rootselaar carried out the deadly massacre. He is now ‘afraid to go back to school’, his father added.
A total of 25 people were injured in the massacre on Tuesday.
Maya Gebala, 12, was shot in the neck and head and is not expected to survive the night. She is the only injured victim named so far.
The girl’s family has said she was hit by shrapnel during the shooting but it was unknown how she was hit and how much damage was done.
Maya Gebala was one of 25 people injured in the shooting. She was shot in the head and neck and is receiving urgent medical treatment at a hospital in Vancouver
Maya’s mother Cia Edmonds shared this photo from hospital as she prayed for a miracle after doctors told her the little girl wouldn’t last the night
‘We were warned that the damage to her brain was too much for her to endure, and she wouldn’t make the night,’ Maya’s mother Cia Edmonds said on Wednesday afternoon.
‘I can feel her in my heart. I can feel her saying it’s going to be OK… she’s here… for how long we don’t know.
‘Our baby needs a miracle.’
Edmonds said she also grieved for the six families whose children were killed at the school, and those trying to come to terms with the shooting.
‘It was just a normal day. Our community is shattered,’ she said.
‘My heart bleeds for everyone who is trying to process this horrific string of events. Far too many are grieving already.’
An emergency alert was issued to Tumbler Ridge residents around 1.20pm local time Tuesday, warning of an active shooter in the area.
An urgent lockdown alarm sounded in the hallways shortly after 1.30pm, instructing students and staff to barricade the doors.
Children were led out of the school after the shooting as authorities attended the scene
Darian Quist, a senior at the school, told CBC he was in his mechanics class when the lockdown began.
‘For a while, I didn’t think anything was going on,’ he said. ‘I thought it was just like maybe a “Secure and hold” but once everything starts circulating, we kind of realized something was wrong.’
Quist said he and his classmates were then left to hide in fear for their lives for over two hours, which was only broken when cops eventually escorted them out of the classroom.
He described the atmosphere in the classroom as ‘very nervous’, which was made worse when he saw gruesome evidence of the carnage at his school sent to his cell phone.
‘Once people sent me some photos, it definitely set in what was actually happening,’ the student said.
‘They [the photos] were disturbing, just showing blood and things like that. That’s when it all really set in.’
The student said their teacher quickly organized students by making them move tables against doors and create an escape plan.
He said they then waited anxiously until ‘police came through the door, yelling, “Hands up, hands up.”‘
The secondary school, which enrolls 175 students, and its elementary school, will be closed for the rest of the week.
