Canada school shooter's online life showed interest in violent extremism

On Tuesday afternoon Jesse Van Rootselaar, 18, took two firearms from her home and killed her mother, Jennifer Jacobs, and her 11-year-old brother. She then went to Tumbler Ridge Secondary School, where five students and one educator were killed before she turned a weapon on herself; two other children were injured.

The attack shattered the small rural community of about 2,400 people. Examination of her online activity traces a descent marked by mental health crises, substance use and a growing interest in violent content. Using her mother’s maiden name for much of her posting, she had accounts dating back to at least 2019 and a Reddit presence in which she wrote in 2023 about suicidal thoughts, experimenting with drugs, video games and a gender transition.

That year she said she had started a fire while high on psychedelic mushrooms, had been hospitalized in a psychiatric ward, and listed diagnoses including depression and autism spectrum disorder, along with use of prescription and illegal drugs.

Canada, Tumbler Ridge

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