Disturbing new images have surfaced of the transgender high school dropout who allegedly slaughtered eight people in British Columbia — including his own mother and stepbrother — before turning the gun on himself. Jesse Van Rootselaar, 18, carried out the massacre at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School after first launching a deadly attack at a private residence in the remote Canadian community. Authorities say he shot and killed his mother, 39-year-old Jennifer Strang, and his 11-year-old stepbrother before heading to the school, where six more victims were gunned down.
Now, resurfaced family photos are casting an eerie spotlight on the accused killer’s past.
In one particularly chilling image posted by his grandmother to Facebook for his 14th birthday, Van Rootselaar appears expressionless, staring straight into the camera. “Happy 14th birthday to our grandson Jesse!! Love you always!! XOXO,” the August 2021 post read.
Another photo is even more unsettling: the teen, smiling broadly, holds a rifle while sitting on a couch next to a young child. The image has drawn renewed scrutiny as investigators piece together how the rampage unfolded — and how access to firearms played a role.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police Deputy Commissioner Dwayne McDonald confirmed that Van Rootselaar “was born a biological male” and began transitioning approximately six years ago, identifying as female. An initial emergency alert during the chaos described the suspect as a “female in a dress.”
Transgender ex-student has been identified as a suspect in Canada school shooting that left at least 9 dead.
NY Post opinion writer Bethany Mandel demands the media to, “stop gaslighting us about the reality of trans mass shooters.”
@kayleighmcenany: “We need to start having… pic.twitter.com/sttMwNFOyo— Outnumbered (@OutnumberedFNC) February 12, 2026
Authorities revealed that Van Rootselaar had been known to law enforcement for years. Police had responded to the family home multiple times over concerns related to mental health. Firearms were previously seized from the residence. However, the lawful owner — whose identity has not been disclosed — successfully petitioned to have the weapons returned.
After Tuesday’s massacre, officers recovered a long gun and a modified handgun at the school. It remains unclear whether those weapons were among the firearms that had earlier been confiscated and later returned.
The bloodshed unfolded rapidly but left devastation that will linger for years. Six victims were found dead inside the school. Approximately 25 others were wounded. Students and teachers described barricading themselves inside classrooms for more than two hours, waiting in terror before law enforcement escorted them to safety.
The scale of the violence has stunned Canada. The attack now ranks among the deadliest mass shootings in the nation’s history. In 1989, 14 students were killed at Montreal’s L’Ecole Polytechnique in a massacre that reshaped national gun laws.
Canada has since enacted sweeping firearm restrictions, including expanded bans on weapons classified as assault-style firearms. Yet this latest tragedy is reigniting difficult questions about enforcement, mental health intervention, and how someone already on law enforcement’s radar was able to carry out such carnage.
The images now circulating online — birthday smiles, family snapshots, and the rifle photo — offer a haunting contrast to the haorror that unfolded. They are a stark reminder that behind every headline lies a chain of warning signs, missed opportunities, and shattered lives.
As investigators continue to examine what went wrong, one fact remains undeniable: eight innocent lives were lost in a quiet Canadian community, and dozens more were forever changed in a matter of hours.
