Ontario resident misidentified as Tumbler Ridge shooting suspect
- Published on February 12, 2026 at 19:03
- Updated on February 13, 2026 at 18:47
- 4 min read
- By Gwen Roley, AFP Canada
Social media users raced to prove the identity of the suspect in the deadliest Canadian mass shooting in decades, but some of the images circulating falsely place an individual residing in a different province at the scene of the carnage in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia. The misidentified woman's mother confirmed her child, Zylii Strang, is still alive and in Ontario following the shooting, while police identified the deceased suspect as Tumbler Ridge resident Jesse Van Rootselaar.
"Photos of today's trans school shooter in Canada," claims a now-deleted February 10, 2026 X post sharing photos of a woman with curly hair, one of which is surrounded by a heart frame filter and another taken from above.
Other posts on X, Instagram and Facebook, including from American comedian Terrence K. Williams and conservative commentator David J. Harris -- both of whom have amplified numerous false claims fact-checked by AFP -- spread the same images claiming they showed the Tumbler Ridge shooting suspect. Many of the posts were accompanied by transphobic comments.
The images also spread with Chinese, Japanese, Greek, German, Portuguese and French captions claiming to identify the shooter. Several outlets covering the shooting published photos of the same individual, including The Times of India and scattered reports from public broadcaster CBC/Radio-Canada, which were eventually removed (archived here).
The tight-knit community of about 2,400 residents in the foothills of the Canadian Rockies was rocked by the February 10 shooting in Tumbler Ridge that left nine dead.
Emergency responders found six people shot dead at the town's secondary school and two others killed at a nearby residence, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) said in a statement. At least 25 people were wounded in the attack.
At a February 11 press conference (archived here), the RCMP confirmed the suspect, 18-year-old Tumbler Ridge resident Jesse Van Rootselaar, was found dead at the school from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound and had been transgender with a history of mental health issues.
However, the woman seen in the photo with the heart frame filter is not Van Rootselaar.
A reverse image search led to a Facebook profile previously bearing the name Zylii Strang and the widely-spread, heart-framed image as its profile picture (archived here). The account's banner photo, capturing the subject from above, is the second photo used to spread the claims falsely identifying her as the alleged shooter (archived here).
The RCMP confirmed that one of the deceased victims was Van Rootselaar's mother, but AFP contacted Zylii's mother, Krista Strang, who confirmed her daughter is currently alive in Ontario, thousands of kilometers east of Tumbler Ridge.
A now-deleted LinkedIn profile for Zylii Strang also listed work experience in Ontario between 2017 and 2023.
Krista Strang told AFP that her daughter was 25 years old, seven years older than the age for Van Rootselaar shared by the RCMP. She said Zylii Strang was "devastated" by the situation and afraid to go outside after being misidentified.
"I don't understand how (her profile) was linked to this crime other than my child being transgender and having (the) last name Strang," Krista Strang said in a direct message to AFP on February 11, 2026.
Early reports from some outlets identified the suspect as "Jesse Strang," appearing to reference a last name used by her mother, rather than the identification made by the RCMP with the name Van Rootselaar (archived here).
At least one Canadian influencer with hundreds of thousands of followers on X acknowledged he deleted a February 10 post sharing Zylii Strang's photo after he was made aware of the error.
Some posts misidentifying Zylii Strang include another photo of a younger individual. While not in its original statement, the RCMP updated its February 11 press release to include that picture, identifying her as Van Rootselaar (archived here).
AFP has debunked numerous misidentifications related to shooting suspects in the past. Transgender people, no matter the identity of the shooter, are often falsely implicated.
Read more of AFP's reporting on misinformation in Canada here.
Paragraphs 14 and 16 were updated to reflect the most recent information released by the RCMP. Images were added after paragraph 16 to compare the photos being spread of Zylli Strang and Jesse Van Rootselaar.February 13, 2026 Paragraphs 14 and 16 were updated to reflect the most recent information released by the RCMP. Images were added after paragraph 16 to compare the photos being spread of Zylli Strang and Jesse Van Rootselaar.
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