Heavily redacted Tumbler Ridge documents leave response timelines, footage and online activity blacked out

PENTICTON — Newly released RCMP court files obtained through a media consortium challenge remain dominated by blackouts covering critical details of the February mass shooting, including police response times.Hundreds of pages of information-to-obtain warrants, production orders and related records unsealed this week after a court application by outlets including The Canadian Press show extensive redactions that in places erase more than half the content. Among the material withheld are the precise times of 911 calls and officer arrivals on February 10, a four-page account of what investigators saw on Tumbler Ridge Secondary School camera footage, victims’ autopsy results, descriptions and tracing results for some of the firearms recovered, and a roughly seven-page section on the suspect’s social media activity that is fully blacked out. Further details of two ChatGPT accounts linked to the shooter and numerous witness statements from students, teachers and first responders are also redacted..The documents do offer some new information.They show initial confusion among responding officers over the number of shooters after receiving conflicting names and descriptions tied to 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar, who killed his mother and brother at their home before driving to the school and killing five students and an education assistant.Police only confirmed a single attacker after reviewing the school footage — the same footage whose detailed description remains sealed. An investigating constable wrote that the suspect had mental health problems and was fascinated by firearms, yet specifics of prior police interactions with the household and the firearms themselves are largely blacked out.RCMP argued for sealing on grounds that premature disclosure could compromise a planned coroner’s inquest, influence a potential public inquiry, interfere with the investigation and risk inspiring copycat attacks. A media consortium has continued arguing in court this week for further unredaction. Six months after the killings, with the shooter dead by self-inflicted gunshot and no criminal trial pending, the volume of remaining blackouts continues to limit public understanding of both the police response and the evidence gathered afterward..A BC Coroner’s Inquest announced in March by Chief Coroner Dr. Jatinder Baidwan is expected to examine the circumstances of the nine deaths, including issues of mental health supports, access to weapons, emergency response and the role of artificial intelligence. The timing of the inquest depends on the completion of the police and coroner’s investigative work. Separately, the provincial government has signalled legal action against OpenAI, while families of victims have filed civil lawsuits against the company and its CEO in California courts.

Heavily redacted Tumbler Ridge documents leave response timelines, footage and online activity blacked out

Related Stories

Tumbler Ridge survivor Maya bonds with new puppy in latest recovery milestone

Alberta RCMP charge school supervisor after student hit with belt at Mennonite school

B.C. teacher asks court to restore Charter rights after residential schools dismissal

Many Tumbler Ridge residents opposed to demolishing town school where massacre took place