Unsealed documents reveal details of RCMP's response, investigation into Tumbler Ridge shooting

Documents unsealed by CBC News and a consortium of media outlets reveal new details of the RCMP's response and investigation into the February 2026 mass shooting in Tumbler Ridge, B.C.

The documents, which include search warrants, production orders and sealing orders, provide a snapshot of a complex investigation, laying out for the first time law enforcement's account of the day shots rang out at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School.

The newly unredacted files from the RCMP paint a picture of how front-line officers experienced the events of that day.

Significant portions of the documents remain redacted, including timestamps crucial to the chronology, such as how long it took officers to enter the school after receiving reports of shots fired.

The documents say that on Feb. 10, 2026, RCMP responded to an active shooter at the high school in Tumbler Ridge and found six deceased victims in a school littered with spent shell casings. They identify the shooter as 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar, who was found dead in the school with self-inflicted gunshot wounds.

Search warrants filed by the RCMP describe the evidence, physical and electronic, that police identified as they attempted to piece together what happened that day.

One sealing order filed in early March describes concern that releasing records connected to the investigation could compromise future public inquests and pose a risk to the public.

The mass shooting, one of the worst in Canadian history, shook the small northern B.C. community, and is now the subject of a coroner's inquest investigating the role that mental health, access to weapons, and artificial intelligence played in the tragedy.

Throughout the documents, Van Rootselaar is referred to by her last name, full name, "Jesse," and "the shooter."

A production and sealing order sworn by Const. Jonathan Paquin of the RCMP North District Major Crime Unit on March 6 describes a flurry of 911 calls received the morning that chaos unfolded in Tumbler Ridge.

On Feb. 10, RCMP received a call about "an SUV that had been driving erratically from [redacted], which is the residence of Jesse."

The vehicle driven to the school was later identified as a green 2023 Hyundai Palisade.

A caller reported that "there were two dead bodies and shotgun shells on the floor" and they "thought that the eldest son was armed and had left, and that the mother and son were dead."

RCMP advised the caller to leave the scene untouched, close the door and return to their residence.