Canada school shooter’s online history shows fascination with violence and mass killings
What the Canada school shooting suspect’s online history reveals
- Jesse Van Rootselaar, 18, killed nine people, including her mother, stepbrother, five schoolchildren and an education assistant, in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, before dying from a self-inflicted injury; 27 others were injured.
- Van Rootselaar maintained an extensive online presence, including accounts on forums like WatchPeopleDie, where she shared and consumed content glorifying mass violence and gore and created a Roblox game simulating a mall shooting.
- Her digital footprint also revealed struggles with mental health, including depression and an autism diagnosis, and discussions about suicidal thoughts and her gender transition, for which she was awaiting hormonal treatment.
- Police confirmed Van Rootselaar was transgender and used she/her pronouns, a detail that became a focus on social media, despite data showing transgender individuals are rarely perpetrators of mass shootings and are more often victims of violence.
- Experts and law enforcement are increasingly concerned about online radicalization leading to “Nihilistic Violent Extremism,” a trend that glorifies violence and its perpetrators, which Van Rootselaar's online activity appears to reflect.
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