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The older brother of the Tumbler Ridge school shooter has been arrested in central Alberta.
Wood Buffalo RCMP in Fort McMurray confirmed to Global News that Jacob VanRoostelaar was arrested in Sylvan Lake after being wanted on a Canada-wide warrant for attempted murder.
Police said that, at the time of his arrest, VanRoostelaar had brass knuckles on him and now faces two new weapons offences and five new offences for breaching previous conditions.
VanRoostelaar was originally charged with attempted murder and breaking and entering in Fort McMurray in 2024, RCMP said.
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VanRoostelaar is the older brother of Jesse VanRoostelaar, who shot and killed eight people, including her mother and half-brother, in Tumbler Ridge, B.C., on Feb. 10.
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She also shot and killed five students and an educator at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School before dying from what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound, Tumbler Ridge RCMP said.
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Her father, Justin VanRootselaar, issued a statement last week saying in part: “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.”
RCMP identified the shooter as “Jesse Van Rootselaar” and said she was assigned male at birth but had started transitioning to female.
Global News is spelling the surname as VanRootselaar to match the father’s spelling of the last name.
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