Father of trans BC school shooter says son never used his last name, requests RCMP update ID given to public

The father of the Tumbler Ridge shooter who killed eight on Tuesday has said that his son never went by the name given out by authorities. During a press conference on Wednesday, RCMP officials said the shooter was 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar.

His father, Justin Van Rootselaar, told Juno News that his son never went by that name, and instead went by Jesse Strang. He said that his son’s passport did not have the name Van Rootselaar on it, and requested that the RCMP clarify the shooter’s name. He said, "I am the biological father, I fought to be part of their lives but always faced pushback from the strang (sic) family."

During the same Wednesday press conference, officials said that they would refer to the shooter, who is deceased, by their preferred pronouns. RCMP Deputy Commissioner Dwayne McDonald told reporters, "We identify the suspect as they chose to be identified in public and in social media." The shooter was described as being "born as a biological male." 

On social media accounts linked to the shooter, he listed she/her pronouns and recounted feeling "suicidal" while awaiting cross-sex hormones. He also wrote about being on SSRIs and antipsychotics, as well as smoking "a decent bit of weed" and asking about DMT and psychedelic mushrooms.

Authorities said that Strang/Van Rootselaar fatally shot his mother and brother at a nearby home before making his way to Tumbler Ridge Secondary School, where six people were killed and dozens more wounded. He had dropped out of school and previously held a firearms license that had since expired. McDonald said authorities are still investigating whether the recovered long gun and modified handgun were purchased legally and by whom, adding that the guns were not registered to the shooter.

One of those injured was a 12-year-old girl named Maya, who was shot in the head and neck. A GoFundMe set up for her recovery has brought in over $288,000 as of Thursday afternoon.