What We're Getting Wrong about the Tumbler Ridge Shootings | The Walrus

"In Tumbler Ridge, a remote town of roughly 2,500 in northeastern British Columbia, that cycle began on February 10, 2026, after an attack in which police identified Jesse Van Rootselaar as the shooter. Authorities say the eighteen-year-old local resident killed her mother, Jennifer Jacobs, and her eleven-year-old half-brother at home before going to Tumbler Ridge Secondary School, where six people-students aged six to thirteen, as well as a thirty-nine-year-old educator-were fatally shot and two others critically injured."

"Investigators say Van Rootselaar acted alone. She reportedly dropped out of school four years ago. Police say they have no information about whether she was bullied but confirmed they had attended the family home in relation to mental health concerns on more than one occasion. Firearms had previously been removed from her residence. The motive for the shooting remains unknown, and police say the weapons used were not registered to Van Rootselaar."

"A leading researcher on the neuroscience behind aggression, Vaillancourt argues for clearer thinking in our risk assessments of violence and a refusal of easy explanations that substitute stigma for understanding. The interview has been lightly edited for clarity. There's always a general confusion that descends on these kinds of mass shootings. From your perspective, what are the things that frustrate you when these events are first being reported?"

An eighteen-year-old, Jesse Van Rootselaar, allegedly killed her mother and eleven-year-old half-brother before fatally shooting six people and an educator at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School; two others were critically injured and about twenty-five were assessed. Investigators report Van Rootselaar acted alone, had dropped out of school, and had prior mental-health-related police contacts; firearms had been removed previously and the weapons used were not registered to her. The motive remains unknown. Immediate reporting often produces confusion, conjecture, and speculation, which can lead to incorrect assumptions. A youth mental-health and violence-prevention researcher urges clearer risk assessments and cautions against stigmatizing explanations.

Read at The Walrus