Students in Tumbler Ridge, B.C., will not be returning to their current high school following last week’s deadly mass shooting, the local school district said in a release.

In a letter to families dated Feb. 13, School District No. 59 (Peace River South) said future plans will prioritize student safety and well-being, adding the existing school site will not reopen.

“As we create our plans, the expectation is that we will not be returning to the current high school site,” superintendent Christy Fennell wrote.

Larry Neufeld, BC Conservative MLA for Peace River South, said the prospect of students returning to the building has been a major concern within the community.

“How can you imagine a paint job and a mural and then asking children to go back into that place? I can’t imagine,” Neufeld said in an interview with Global News.

“As an adult, I would not want to go into that location. Children should not be forced into that situation.”

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Neufeld said provincial leaders have assured him students will not be required to return to the existing school.

“There will be portables brought in, there will be other accommodations made, but students won’t be forced back into that building.”

The district said supports for students and families remain available at the community recreation centre, which is open daily from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.

“We know some families will want the stability of school routines, while others may not feel ready,” Fennell wrote.

“We will share plans over the next week that prioritizes emotional and physical safety through a trauma informed lens,” the statement further read.

The decision follows the Feb. 10 shooting in Tumbler Ridge, where a teen killed eight people. Police have identified the suspect as Jesse Van Rootselaar, 18, who also died.

In the days since the tragedy in the small northeastern British Columbia community, recent memorials and vigils have taken place to honour the victims.

Nuefeld told Global News that the recent memorials and gatherings have provided an important space for grief and connection. “People went from being zombies to… allowing their emotions to be released.”

Friday night’s vigil brought many mourners together, including Prime Minister Mark Carney and opposition leader Pierre Polliviere.

“I’ve been in politics for about 16 months, and there is often a performative component to it, but what you saw yesterday was real,” Neufeld said.

BC RCMP say investigators and forensic teams continue to process the school and a nearby residence connected to the shooting.

Autopsies are expected to be completed by the end of the weekend.

More than 80 students, educators and first responders have been interviewed so far, with additional witness interviews ongoing, as the investigation progresses.

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Police have said the teenage shooter who killed eight people and herself in Tumbler Ridge, B.C., had previously been apprehended under the Mental Health Act.

In a Wednesday press conference, RCMP Deputy Commissioner Dwayne McDonald said police had previously visited the home where Jesse Van Rootselaar, 18, lived, and that she had been apprehended under the act on multiple occasions.

Here’s what you need to know about the act.

THE FRAMEWORK

Each province has a mental health act, which is designed to outline a legal framework of what should happen when a person with a mental illness needs treatment and protection for themselves or others.

Jonathan Morris, chief executive officer of the Canadian Mental Health Association’s B.C. division, says the law permits police to apprehend and transport a person to a hospital or mental health facility for an assessment.

He said they can then be involuntarily admitted for treatment if a doctor deems it necessary, which means the patient cannot leave on their own terms.

There are criteria for involuntary admission: if a mental illness “seriously impairs someone’s ability to function”; if there’s a risk of deterioration or harm; if they require some form of psychiatric treatment; and if they are unwilling to be treated, Morris said.

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A doctor or nurse must complete a certificate, which grants them the right to hold that person for up to 48 hours, to assess the patient and determine if it’s safe for them to be discharged or not.

Morris, who is not privy to information about the suspect in Tumbler Ridge and was speaking generally about the act, said any patient should be comprehensively assessed and a plan should be established before they are discharged.

“I don’t know what happened in this case, but sometimes there can be, more often than not, gaps along that journey, right? People might not leave with a full picture of a diagnosis, for example,” he said.

The Canadian Press requested additional information from the province’s Health Ministry on the suspect’s mental health treatment.

The ministry said the RCMP will make decisions about what information will be released, and if key issues aren’t answered through the investigation, the government will consider measures to provide further answers.

HOW LONG CAN A PATIENT BE HELD? 

If a doctor determines a patient needs further treatment after 48 hours, they will complete a second certificate, which allows them to detain the person for another month.

The health provider can keep renewing that certificate if they think the patient needs further treatment.

“The certificates are the legal documentation that are supporting the decision to suspend, take away someone’s ability to freely leave the hospital, and also be subject to involuntary treatment,” Morris said.

“Under our law there’s no limit on total duration. The detention can be indefinite, but it needs to be supported by those renewals.”

HOW DOES THIS APPLY TO TUMBLER RIDGE SHOOTING?

McDonald said Van Rootselaar had previously been apprehended under the provincial Mental Health Act on different occasions for assessment and followup. He said she was hospitalized “in some circumstances.”

He also said police had seized weapons from the home, which were later returned, and that Van Rootselaar had dropped out of school about four years ago.

When patients are discharged without a robust treatment plan, Morris said that can lead to re-admission.

“We also have seen, again, across the province, and I think this happens not just in B.C., people who repeatedly meet the criteria for an involuntary admission and are kind of repeatedly admitted and then there’s a discharge and then admitted again. That’s definitely something to pay attention to.”

He said the overlap between firearm and mental health laws will need to be thoroughly examined in the wake of this tragedy.

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The father of the Tumbler Ridge, B.C., shooter has issued a statement following the deadly mass shooting that rocked the small community this week.

“There are moments when words feel far too small for the sorrow we are carrying together. What has happened has left an ache in the heart of our town that will not soon fade. In a place where we know each other by name, where we pass one another in the grocery store and gather at the same community events, this loss feels deeply personal to us all,” Justin VanRootselaar said.

“To the families who have lost loved ones, and to every person who has been affected by this senseless and unforgivable act of violence, I offer my most heartfelt condolences. I cannot begin to imagine the depth of your grief. Please know that you are in my thoughts and prayers, and that I share in the profound sadness that has settled over our community.

“As the biological father of the individual responsible, I carry a sorrow that is difficult to put into words. I was estranged from Jesse Strang and was not part of his life. His mother declined my involvement from the beginning, and I was not given the opportunity to be a part of raising him. Jesse did not use the VanRootselaar family name at any point in his life. While that distance is the reality of our relationship, it does not lessen the heartbreak I feel for the pain that has been caused to innocent people and to the town we call home.

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“This is a time for compassion, for holding one another close, and for supporting the families who are grieving such unimaginable loss.

“As we respect your grief, we respectfully ask that you also respect ours. There will be no further statements.”

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What we know about the Tumbler Ridge shooting victims, suspect

This statement comes as more information is coming to light about the 18-year-old shooter.

BC RCMP confirmed that multiple police visits had been made to the 18-year-old Jesse VanRootselaar’s home due to concerns of mental health and self-harm.

Dept. Comm. Dwayne McDonald, BC RCMP commanding officer, said the teen also had some interactions with police.

“Police have attended that residence in the past, approximately a couple of years ago, where firearms were seized under the criminal code,” he said.

“I can say that at a later point in time, the lawful owner of those firearms petitioned for those firearms to be returned and they were.”

It is not known who owned the guns, why they were seized and why they were returned.

Criminal lawyer Jerry Steele said that Canada’s new Red Flag law, passed in 2023, allows anyone, not just police, to apply to a judge for a temporary 30-day prohibition order to remove firearms from someone who poses a risk.

“The idea that someone else in a house could be the problem rather than the firearms owner themselves, that concern is relatively new and I haven’t seen that tested,” Steele said.

Van Rootselaar, who was assigned male at birth but had started transitioning to a female, dropped out of school roughly four years ago, Global News has learned.

The teen had a gun license, which expired in 2024. A long gun and a modified handgun were found at the crime scene in Tumbler Ridge following the shooting on Feb. 10.

It is unknown if these were the guns that were seized from the family home and returned.

-with files from Rumina Daya

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