The 18-year-old man who attacked a rural Canadian school identified as a woman and had a history of mental illness, law enforcement confirmed Wednesday.
Police identified the man who opened fire on Tumbler Ridge Secondary School in British Columbia, killing six people, as Jesse Van Rootselaar. Van Rootselaar, who was found dead at the school, began to “transition” about six years ago, Royal Canadian Mounted Police Deputy Commissioner Dwayne McDonald said.
“I will say this, we identify the suspect as they chose to be identified in public and on social media,” he said. “I can say that Jesse was born as a biological male who approximately six years ago began to transition to female and identified as female, both socially and publicly.”
McDonald used female pronouns for the attacker despite the fact he was a male and repeatedly called the him “female” throughout a Wednesday press conference.
Two people, identified as Van Rootsellar’s mother and brother, were found dead at a nearby residence the day of the shooting. McDonald said that police had seized guns from the residence in previous years.
He also said that police had visited the residence multiple times dealing with “concerns of mental health” with regards to the shooter. He said the shooter had been detained in the past because of mental health concerns.
After the attack, investigators refused to release the name and sex of the attacker. The first alert described the attacker as a woman wearing a dress and they later referred to him as a “gunperson.”
Speculation began circulating that a YouTube page called “JessJessUwU” was run by the shooter. The page featured an anime figure and a rifle with colors associated with the pink, purple, and blue transgender flag in the background, according to screenshots captured by conservative publisher Juno News.
After the reports started linking the shooting to the account, it was removed. The YouTube channel’s owner showcased “she/her” pronouns in the biography section.
“Following this horrific incident, our Trust and Safety teams identified and removed a YouTube channel associated with the alleged suspect in accordance with our Creator Responsibility Guidelines,” YouTube told The Daily Wire.
The lone post on the channel was an anime illustration of a person smoking, captioned “I’ve been pretty, um, aimless.”
Investigators have not yet released the name of the attacker, who was found dead at the school. But authorities have said the person was wearing a dress, and called them a “gunperson,” as opposed to a gunman, since the shooter identified as “nonbinary.”
The YouTube Channel account number was “@jessjess347” which was similar to a Reddit account “jesseboy347” that was also removed. Reddit has not responded to requests for comment.
The victims at the school included a 39-year-old teacher and five children between the ages of 13-17.
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