In wake of the Tumbler Ridge shooting, many support services are available to the public 24 hours a day, seven days a week: 310-Mental Health Support at 310-6789; Kids Help Phone: 1-800-668-6868 or text CONNECT to 686868; Suicide Crisis Helpline: 988; KUU-US (Indigenous) Crisis Line: 1-800-588-8717; Métis Crisis Line: 1-833-638-4722; Kids Help Phone: 1-800-668-6868.

Recently released court documents are providing more insight into the events and subsequent investigation into the mass shooting in Tumbler Ridge in February.

Hundreds of pages of information to obtain documents were released after a media consortium sought to have them released. Black Press Media obtained the documents through the Dawson Creek court registry as a result.

While heavily redacted, the pages of documents detail the confusion regarding how many shooters there could have been, search warrants, statements from responding officers and witnesses and communication with OpenAI’s legal counsel.

Eight people were killed in the shooting: six children and two adults. The suspect, Jesse Van Rootselaar, died of a self-inflicted wound.

The autopsies of the eight victims were completed at Surrey Memorial Hospital.

Van Rootselaar’s autopsy was at Royal Jubilee Hospital in Greater Victoria.

The document says the investigation revealed Van Rootselaar “had mental health problems and was fascinated by firearms.”

Police have been tight-lipped about the investigation in the more than six months since the shooting. The last press conference held by the RCMP was Feb. 13, two days after the incident.

Erratic driver call, two found dead

Before the active shooter call, Tumbler Ridge RCMP received a complaint “about an SUV that had earlier been driving erratically” from Van Rootselaar’s family home. The vehicle was a Hyundai Palisade registered to Van Rootselaar’s mother.

A call to 911 reported a black SUV driving erratically that had “side rear” damage after it had backed into a snowbank and drove off quickly.

While much of the info is redacted, the person reportedly advised there were two dead bodies and shotgun shells on the floor and that the eldest child at the home was “armed and had left, and the mother and son were dead.”

The two people have been publicly identified as Van Rootselaar’s mother and brother, Jennifer and Emmett Jacobs.

The 911 call taker told the person to “leave the scene untouched, close the door, and return to their residence.” Police were expected to follow up.

The document says Van Rootselaar drove the vehicle from the house to Tumbler Ridge Secondary School.

Active shooter call comes in, confusion around potential number of shooters

Tumbler Ridge RCMP then responded to the active shooter call on Feb. 10 at the school.

The documents redact the details of the multiple calls to police regarding the shots fired report.
The document details which officers arrived on scene where they found six deceased victims inside the school “along with spent shell casings throughout the affected area of the school.”

Const. Nick Gachter reported hearing shots and then reported shots being fired at police. Sgt. Bill Huges reported it was a lone shooter on the second floor.

Police describe the shooter as a “dark-haired girl” who “fired a number of shots.”

Hughes reported one deceased person on the stairwell and five victims in the library, “one of which may be deceased.

Gachter then reported the black SUV previously reported to have been driving erratically was out front of the school with the doors open.

Critical incident commander Insp. Chris Riddle reported a Jesse Jacobs as the possible suspect and that “they were obsessed with guns.”

This is where the confusion of a possible second shooter came in.

Riddle reported there was a possible second shooter, Jesse Van Rootselaar, who was supposed to be living at the house where two people were found dead.

Hughes reported finding the shooter dead.

Riddle reported officers looked at video inside the school, which confirmed only one suspect entered the school and that there was only one shooter.

The shooter, who was ultimately identified as Van Rootselaar, was found dead inside the school with a “self-inflicted gunshot wound.” Further information was redacted.

There were approximately 70 statements from teachers, students, first responders and community members. Some of those were first-hand observations of the shooting, while others provided information on Van Rootselaar.

The shooting at the school was captured on CCTV. The portion of descriptions of the CCTV footage and witness statements is fully redacted.

Police response at the school

Fort St. John, Chetwynd and Alberta ‘K’ Division RCMP and B.C. Highway Patrol officers arrived on scene shortly after, helping with the victims.

The firearm found at the school is described as a rifle. The document says most of the shooting happened in the library.

The document says the crime scene at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School was “large and contained a large amount of evidence for investigators to collect.”

At the time of the report, the crime scene had been released, but investigators were “still actively documenting their observations and the collection of evidence.”

Since then, work has started on demolishing the school. Plans are underway for a new temporary school for the coming school year and then a new permanent building for the future.

Search warrant and history with police

Police applied for a search warrant of the shooter’s home the day after the shooting, Feb. 11.

Inside the home, police found an unloaded shotgun and one laptop.

Officers seized a laptop, cameras and a cellphone.

Prior to the fatal shooting, Van Rootselaar had multiple interactions with police.

The document includes Police Records Information Management Environment – or PRIME – which includes information from police investigations, the originating agency and complete police investigational reports.

While the information is redacted, there are 12 PRIME files connected to Van Rootselaar. Some of the files date between April 16, 2018 and April 7, 2025. Some dates are fully redacted. The reports are also redacted.

Concerns around releasing the information

North District Major Crime Unit Const. Jonathan Paquin, in one document, noted details in this information to obtain, if released, could influence and impact the goal and purpose of the coroner’s inquest and a potential public inquiry.

A coroner’s inquest was announced March 3, although no date has yet to be set. Paquin said while it’s not a criminal trial, it’s a court proceeding involving a jury and he believed it would rely on information gathered by police and “disclosure of the Information to Obtain could influence and impact the goal and purpose of the Coroner’s Inquest.”

Paquin added he’s aware there is “public and political pressure” to hold a public inquiry.

“This is a large and complex investigation that has garnered significant national and international attention with significant media coverage of the incident and the police investigation.”

He added if the information was prematurely disclosed it “would certainly be disseminated through various news outlets that would affect and influence the current ongoing criminal investigation, the coroner’s inquest, and a potential public inquiry.”

Paquin said he was aware mass casualty incidents can inspire copycat attacks, noting the Columbine High School massacre “is well-known to have had this effect where it inspired other shootings in the following years.”

He said releasing the document “could put the public at risk” and that “outweighs” the importance of access to information.

ChatGPT accounts connected to the shooter

On Feb. 15, the investigative team was notified by the Federal Bureau of Investigations that OpenAI, the parent company of ChatGPT, had found two accounts believed to be used by Van Rootselaar.

The documents show police were seeking records for two ChatGPT accounts, including subscriber information including but not limited to: name, date of birth, phone number, email and billing information.

Paquin said he had reasonable grounds to believe the data from the accounts would provide evidence in the mass shooting.

Suspected shooter Van Rootselaar had two ChatGPT accounts. ChatGPT is an artificial chatbot developed by OpenAI, which is headquartered in San Francisco, Calif.

OpenAI banned Van Rootselaar’s account, but did not notify police.

That information became public knowledge Feb. 20 following

Sooke News Mirror

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