'We are not hiding it': Canada police draw flak for protecting shooter Jesse Van Rootselaar's gender

Canada Police rejected the criticism that they were protecting the shooter Jesse Van Rootselaar's identity and gender, and emphasized that they identified the suspect as they chose to be identified in public and in social media. The police said the shooter was an 18-year-old female Jesse Van Rootselaar, who was born as a biological male who identified as female.

BC RCMP commanding officer Dwayne McDonald was asked why the Canadian police were hiding the fact that Jesse was a transgender. "We are not hiding it. In fact, you are the first person to have asked this question," the officer said adding that Jesse began transitioning six years ago. The officer also elaborated the delay in confirming Jesse Van Rootselaar's name and said the cops were handling more pressing situation at hand -- locking down locations, informing the family members of the deceased and the name was released only after full confirmation.




The finding that the shooter was a transgender blew up on social media. "RCMP’s careful pronoun phrasing amid a mass shooting presser is peak Canada 2026: prioritize identity optics while the body count is still fresh. The shooter’s biology was stated plainly anyway, why the hedging dance? Public safety should come before linguistic caution," one said.

"Canadian authorities are upset that people are misgendering a mass murderer. Everyone else in the world is mad that a man who pretended to be a woman slaughtered 9 innocent people," another wrote.

"The police respect someone that butchered innocent people. This madness can’t be real," a third user wrote.

"Canadian Police are worried about respecting the transgender shooter’s pronouns," MAGA commentator Benny Johnson said.

What Canada Police revealed about Jesse Van Rootselaar

• Jesse Van Rootselaar first killed her mother and then her stepbrother at the family home in Tumbler Ridge before attacking the shool that she attended four years ago.
• Jesse dropped out of school and the police did not comment on whether she faced any difficulties in school because of her gender transition.
• Earlier, firearms were confiscated from Jesse's residence. Jesse had a firearms licence which had lapsed. But there was no charge against her.
• Jesse had a history of mental illness and police did welfare check on her home before. Jesse was known to police because of some previous visits.
• The suspect acted alone, and there were no other suspects. The motive remains unknown.
• Jesse was apprehended earlier on several occasions but all due to mental health situation. The police said they did not know whether she was receiving treatment at present.