A piece of wood carved with 'TR' with the names of victims of the Tumbler Ridge mass shooting on it is displayed at a vigil on Feb. 13.Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press
A group of high-profile gun control advocates, including one that represents the survivors of the École Polytechnique mass shooting, say they are alarmed that the RCMP has not released details about the type and legal status of the weapons used in the Tumbler Ridge school shooting.
In an open letter to RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme, the group urged the RCMP to “be transparent with the public about the guns used in this school shooting – information Canadians expect and deserve.”
Releasing verified information now about the models of firearms used “may well help prevent more mass shootings and gun violence in communities across Canada,” the letter reads.
Opinion: Canadians deserve to know what guns were used in the Tumbler Ridge mass shooting
The letter is signed by Heidi Rathjen, the lead organizer of the group PolySeSouvient, with the support of representatives of Angie’s Angels, Canadian Doctors for Protection Against Guns, Danforth Families for Safe Communities and the Islamic Cultural Centre, a Quebec City mosque where six men were shot to death in 2017.
On Feb. 10, 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar shot and killed her mother and 11-year-old half-brother at their family home in Tumbler Ridge, B.C. She then went to the local high school and killed five students and an education assistant, before turning a gun on herself minutes after police arrived at the school. It was one of the deadliest mass shootings in Canadian history.
In the month since the shootings in Tumbler Ridge, police have released few details about the type of weapons involved. Four weapons were used, according to police; two at the shooter’s home, including an unregistered shotgun, and two at the secondary school. Police have said some weapons had been seized from the shooter’s home in the years before the attacks, but have provided no additional information about how or why.
The Globe and Mail is part of a consortium of media outlets fighting in court to access records related to the Tumbler Ridge shootings, including records related to firearms seized.
The RCMP has repeatedly declined to address questions from The Globe about the weapons used in the attack. In an e-mail, the force provided its response to PolySeSouvient’s letter to The Globe. It said information about the weapons used “is subject to an active investigation” and cannot be provided until that investigation is concluded.
“It’s impossible to provide a specific or detailed timeline” about when that might happen, the response said.
The police response also noted the recent announcement of a B.C. coroner’s inquest into the shootings, and that RCMP would conduct a thorough review of any recommendations that may result from the inquest.
In an interview with The Globe, Ms. Rathjen said without police-verified details about which weapons were used and where they came from, the public is unable to meaningfully debate whether laws or policies should be changed as a result.
“If we don’t know how a perpetrator of a mass shooting got access to the weapons they used or to the type of gun, then how are we supposed to change our laws to prevent the next mass shooting?” Ms. Rathjen said.
The shooter's mother posted a photo on Facebook in August, 2024, of several long guns in a cabinet.HO/The Canadian Press
Photos posted to social media by the shooter’s mother include a gun locker with several long guns.
Frank Grosspietsch, a retired RCMP officer with the National Weapons Enforcement Support Team and a technical adviser to the Association of Firearm and Toolmark Examiners, told The Canadian Press last month the photo includes five rifles – three of which appear to be semi-automatic – two shotguns and a handgun.
Mr. Grosspietsch noted the distinctive and boxy-looking black gun in the middle of the cabinet, identifying it as a KRISS Vector semi-automatic 9-mm rifle.
In August, 2024, when the photo was posted, the firearm was not restricted. It was deemed prohibited four months later in December.
Chris McBryan, a former RCMP member who served with the Canadian Firearms Program before retiring a decade ago, also identified the KRISS Vector in an interview with The Globe last month.
After that particular gun was deemed prohibited, the federal government included an amnesty period and buyback program that extends until this coming October. Knowing whether that particular weapon was used in the school attack is critical to understanding whether the federal government’s approach to assault-style weapons is working, Ms. Rathjen said.
“Did the availability and, you know, the delays in the buyback contribute to the death toll? We don’t know,” she said.