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Canada recently witnessed a tragic school shooting involving a transgender individual, whose disturbing behavior was noticed even from a young age. His mother had previously described him as a troublingly sadistic child, and his fascination with violent content seemed to escalate in the months leading up to the incident.
Jesse Van Rootselaar, an 18-year-old who had left school prematurely, orchestrated what is now the second deadliest school shooting in Canada’s history. On Tuesday, he began by killing his mother and stepbrother at their home. He then proceeded to Tumbler Ridge Secondary School, where he fatally shot six individuals and injured 25 others before taking his own life.
Concerns about Jesse’s behavior were not new. Over a decade ago, his mother, Jennifer Strang, had voiced her worries in a Facebook group dedicated to parents. Her posts revealed her deep unease about her son’s actions.
“He displays deep empathy when witnessing harm done by others but finds amusement in causing pain to his siblings,” Strang revealed in a 2015 post on Parent Life Network Canada, as captured in a social media screenshot.
She further mentioned, “The school recommended testing him for a behavioral disorder. I agreed, though the idea makes me very uneasy.”
Strang, 39, described other bizarre behavior, including that her son “baby talked” at home despite being almost 8, and that he was very attached to her and “somewhat territorial.” She even appeared to blame herself for her son’s issues.
“At home he also has times where he can be very helpful and nice. Then other times he is pretty mean. So that makes me think it’s more of a me problem than his problem.”
Van Rootselaar’s malevolent streak only grew with the years, as he became fascinated with gore videos.
In August, he created an account on WatchPeopleDie, the twisted platform that hosts videos of people being murdered and made infamous for being where the 2019 Christchurch shooter livestreamed his massacre, according to an analysis by the Anti-Defamation League’s Center on Extremism.
“I appreciate this post,” Van Rootselaar first wrote on Aug. 24, commenting on a thread compiling every mass shooting ever caught on film.
He watched multiple videos of suicide bombers offing themselves, writing things like “badass” and “pretty peak way to go.”
“Cool video, pretty neat,” he commented on a video titled “cooking from human flesh #2” while complaining “the skin is way too preserved” and that he felt boiling the flesh should “slough off more material.”
“I love these first-person perspective type videos,” he commented on footage of three men shooting a man 46 times in the face. “When the shooter records his or her own actions it’s always heat.”
He also slammed cops as “losers” and posted “Brazilian bacon” on a video of an off-duty police officer murdered in front of his house in the South American country.
On his profile, under “enemies,” Van Rootselaar wrote “myself” and “gun control” — and shared a grim childhood story while commenting on a video showing a father hanging himself in front of his kids.
“My stepdad did this to me when I was little, very little. I wish his b–ch ass would’ve died on the noose then and there, probably better than beating your kids huh? loser, useless. I hate that he is still alive,” blasted Van Rootselaar.
The teen knew the sick content was leading him down a dark path.
“I find it addictive, it’s hard to not watch violent content,” he confessed. “I’m just drawn to it, I don’t think much of it. Though to say it ‘doesn’t effect me’ is likely naive, I’m sure maybe subconsciously it does. It just doesn’t feel like a big deal.”
“Does it impact my mental health? Eh, mine’s probably already f–ked. I’ve tried to stray away from watching this type of thing before cuz it really sucks me in and is a massive useless time dump but I never really saw any benefit.”