The suspected shooter, Jesse Van Rootselaar, is understood to have created a Roblox game simulation of a mass shooting at a mall before carrying out a brutal attack which killed eight
Suspected Tumbler Ridge mass shooter hosted a game that enabled users of popular online game Roblox to carry out a mass shooting at a mall, according to several reports.
The suspected shooter, 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar, fatally shot three 12-year-old girls, two boys aged 12 and 13, and a 39-year-old female teacher at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School in British Columbia, Canada, on Tuesday, February 10.
It is understood that Van Rootselaar gunned down a 39-year-old woman and an 11-year-old boy, identified by police as Van Rootselaar’s mum and stepbrother, before the attack on the school.
At least 25 people were wounded in the attack, Canada’s deadliest school shooting since 14 students were killed at Montreal’s L’Ecole Polytechnique in 1989.
An account on popular online game Roblox, which The New York Times matched to Van Rootselaar’s online footprint, hosted a game that allowed users to simulate carrying out a mass shooting at a mall.
Responding to questions from The Mirror, a spokesperson for the company shared a statement on the alleged link between the game and the suspected shooter.
“We have removed the user account connected to this horrifying incident as well as any content associated with the suspect,” the Roblox spokesperson said in a statement.
“We are committed to fully supporting law enforcement in their investigation.”
It’s understood that the account and any content created by the user was removed from Roblox on February 11, 2026 – the ‘experience’ had seven visits.
A chilling photograph taken at some point before the attack shows Van Rootselaar smiling and holding a rifle. It is unclear how old Van Rootselaar was in the photograph.
Residents of Tumbler Ridge, a remote town of about 2,400 people in the foothills of the Rockies, were sent a text alert on Tuesday afternoon with instructions to shelter in place due to an active shooter. The alert described the suspect as a “female in a dress with brown hair”.
Authorities said Van Rootselaar, who identified as transgender and went by female pronouns, died by a self-inflicted gunshot on the school premises, bringing the death toll to nine.
Officers entered the school to locate the threat and within found the shooter deceased. Royal Canadian Mounted Police Deputy Commissioner Dwayne McDonald said the suspect was identified as Van Rootselaar, a resident of Tumbler Ridge.
