Schoolgirl, 12, fighting for life after shooting attack in Canada

Maya Gebala is in a critical condition as it is revealed that the house of the suspect, Jesse Van Rootselaar, had been visited by police on ‘multiple occasions’

Maya Gebala is clinging to life

The attacker who opened fire on a school in remote western Canada in one of the worst school shootings in the country’s history has been identified by police as a transgender teenager.

Seven people were killed and more than two dozen injured at Tumbler Ridge secondary school in British Columbia when the shooter fired indiscriminately into the library shortly after lunch break on Tuesday afternoon. A 39-year-old woman teacher and five students — three 12-year-old girls and two boys, aged 13 and 12 — were killed.

The mother and stepbrother of the shooter, named by police as Jesse Van Rootselaar, 18, were killed in their home before the attack. Van Rootselaar was later found dead with a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Van Rootselaar had a YouTube channel to discuss hobbies like hunting

Another victim, Maya Gebala, 12, was clinging to life Wednesday night, after being shot in the head and neck, her aunt, Krystal Hunt, told CBC.

The schoolgirl “tried to lock the door of the library from the shooter to save the other kids,” before being wounded, Hunt said. Gebala was airlifted to a Vancouver hospital in a critical condition. Another 25 victims suffered non-life threatening injuries.

Dwayne McDonald, deputy commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), said the suspect was born biologically male but chose to identify as female. Van Rootselaar began to transition to female about six years ago before dropping out of school.

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McDonald said officers had visited the suspect’s house on “multiple occasions over the past several years, dealing with concerns of mental health with respect to our suspect” and on at least one occasion police seized firearms “under the criminal code”. He added that the suspect had been apprehended under the country’s mental health act for assessment and follow-up.

Van Rootselaar — who went by the name Jess — had several online accounts, an uncle called Russell Strang confirmed to local media.

Pupils are led away from Tumbler Ridge secondary school (Jordon Kosik via AP)
JORDON KOSIK VIA AP

In a Facebook post dated July 6, 2021, Van Rootselaar’s mother, Jennifer Strang, promoted her child’s YouTube channel, writing: “Check out my oldest son Jesse Strang YouTube channel. He posts about hunting, self-reliance, guns and stuff he likes to do.”

Van Rootselaar appeared to have changed the channel’s handle from “JesseBoy” to “JessJessUwU”. The only remaining post on the channel, which features the transgender flag and lists “she/her” pronouns, was made six months ago and reads: “I’ve been pretty, um, aimless.”

On a Reddit account linked to Van Rootselaar, the teenager claimed to have been diagnosed with ADHD and OCD and had in 2023 been on antidepressants and, on occasion, antipsychotics.

McDonald told reporters in a press conference on Wednesday that police had attended the family home several times over the past few years, dealing with the attacker’s mental-health concerns. Van Rootselaar was apprehended on different occasions for assessment and follow-up under the Mental Health Act.

Police tape surrounded what would be the house of the suspect in Tumbler Ridge
JENNIFER GAUTHIER/REUTERS

The deputy commissioner said police had seized firearms from the home two years ago under the criminal code. He said that the lawful owner of those firearms petitioned for them to be returned, and they were.

Liam Irving and Juan van Heerden, pupils at Tumbler Ridge secondary school, told the Western Standard website that Van Rootselaar was a “quiet kid” who was often seen “sitting by himself in the corner”.

Posts made on a Facebook account believed to belong to Strang, the mother, suggested Van Rootselaar may have struggled with behavioural issues, including violent tendencies, from a young age.

On social media, Strang is seen asking advice on how to deal with her children. “I find at home he also has times where he can be very helpful and nice,” she wrote in a parenting group in 2015. “Then other times he is pretty mean. So that makes me think it’s more of a me problem than his problem.

“We do have four kids, so I feel maybe he feels like he isn’t getting enough attention. He is very attached to me and is somewhat territorial.”

The school is in a remote part of British Columbia
TRENT ERNST/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

In 2024 she shared a post on Instagram with the hashtag #ProtectTransKids. She also posted on the account about Tyler Robinson, the suspect in the conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s killing.

Robinson was said to have been dating his transgender roommate at the time of the attack. His mother told investigators he had begun leaning more to the left politically, becoming “more pro-gay and trans-rights oriented”.

Strang posted last year: “I’m glad I’m not far right or far left … Political extremism blinded by rage is mental!” . She described herself as a “conservative-leaning libertarian who lives in the north and loves living in a small town”.