Police have named the suspect in the shooting as 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar, who also lived in the community. Van Rootselaar was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound at the school, police said.
In an update to reporters on Friday, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) said they did not believe the suspect was targeting anyone specific in the attack.
“This suspect was, for a lack of a better term, hunting,” said RCMP deputy commissioner Dwayne McDonald. “They were prepared and engaging anybody and everybody they could come in contact with.”
Police added that they had seized a total of four firearms in relation to the shooting — two from the suspect’s home and two from the school.
Authorities earlier said they did not know how the suspect procured the weapons used in the shooting.
Police said earlier that Van Rootselaar had a firearm license that expired in 2024.
While Van Rootselaar’s mother, Jennifer Jacobs, who was also known as Jennifer Strang, had a licence to buy and possess guns, there were no firearms registered under that licence, McDonald said.
He added that by law there were “certain types of firearms” that did not have to be registered.
A 2021 Facebook post from Strang, 39, described how the teenager was interested in guns, BBC Verify found.
One post shared in 2021 by a relative shows the suspect holding a hunting rifle.
Deputy commissioner McDonald said police were still working to determine how Van Rootselaar was able to obtain the guns used in the attack, particularly the firearm “believed to be the one that caused the most significant damage” at the school.
McDonald would not give information about what style the primary gun from the school was, saying “because of its unknown origin, we don’t know if there’s other parties in terms of procuring that weapon”.
Earlier in the week, police said Van Rootselaar, who was born biologically male and transitioned to female six years ago, had a history of mental health struggles and was previously admitted for psychiatric evaluation.
Guns were seized from the suspect’s home in the past, police had said, but were returned after a successful petition from the firearms’ owner.
Neither guns used in the attack at the home or the school were previously seized by police, deputy commissioner McDonald clarified on Friday.
Police also released an image of the suspect, noting that misinformation had been circulating on social media about the attack and the suspect’s identity.
The school remained closed on Friday as the RCMP continued their investigation, though McDonald said he hoped that their work would be concluded soon, “recognising that the town needs to heal”.