“Canadian Authorities Insist on Using Preferred Pronouns for Shooter Despite Deadly Rampage” Double Down on Respecting killer
In Canada, authorities have shown a strong commitment to using preferred pronouns, even in cases involving extreme violence. This approach was evident in the wake of a deadly shooting in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, where nine people, including the shooter, died and roughly 25 others were injured, according to the BBC.
The suspect, 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar, killed six individuals—a teacher, three students, his mother, and his stepbrother—before taking his own life. When briefing the media, Dwayne McDonald, deputy commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, referred to Van Rootselaar as a “deceased gunperson,” a phrase that was widely shared on X.
McDonald elaborated that authorities were identifying Van Rootselaar according to how he presented himself publicly and online. “Jesse was assigned male at birth but began transitioning to female about six years ago and socially and publicly identified as female,” McDonald said.
In Canada we don’t have mankind, we have People-kind. When a mentally ill man murders a bunch of school children we don’t refer to him as a gunman, we prefer “gunperson.”
This is all so dark and so far from reality, it’s difficult to comprehend. pic.twitter.com/BORFzHSXlT
— John-Paul Berg (@SemperVeritasX) February 12, 2026
According to CNN, Van Rootselaar had left school roughly four years ago. McDonald added that the RCMP had visited his home multiple times over the years due to mental health concerns, most recently last spring regarding risks of self-harm.
The decision by Canadian officials to focus on gender identity in their public statements drew sharp criticism from the New York Post. In an editorial, the newspaper argued that avoiding biological facts in reporting is neither compassionate nor responsible. “When someone denies basic biological realities, it signals distress rather than a new identity to endlessly affirm,” the editorial said. It also warned that repeatedly framing transgender individuals as victims could unintentionally encourage violent behavior.
BREAKING: Canadian police reveal they are respecting the gunman’s preferred gender pronouns. He transitioned at 12. pic.twitter.com/F7sdRDX1qS
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) February 11, 2026
The Post emphasized that obscuring facts for ideological reasons increases the risk of future tragedies: “Each time officials tiptoe around reality, we invite another calamity,” the editorial stated.
Van Rootselaar is the third widely reported case of a school shooter in North America who identified as transgender in the past three years.
In March 2023, Audrey Hale, a female who identified as male under the name Aiden Hale, killed six at the Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee, before police fatally shot her. Then, in August 2025, Robert Westman, a transgender-identifying male who had legally changed his name to Robin, carried out a shooting at the Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis during a school Mass, killing two children.
WOMAN?
It was a biological man. Facts matter. https://t.co/HHgoqq2Mv4— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) February 11, 2026
A 2025 review by The Western Journal found that roughly 40 percent of planned or executed school shootings in North America since 2020 involved suspects identifying as transgender.
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