RCMP to identify transsexual school shooter by his 'gender of choice:' female

Royal Canadian Mounted Police confirmed the school shooter in a remote British Columbia community as Jesse Van Rootselaar, an 18-year-old biological male.

Van Rootselaar killed his mother and stepbrother at home before entering a local school and murdering several others, mostly 12- and 13-year-old students in the library.

The rampage claimed nine lives total, including the shooter's, after police corrected an initial mistaken count of ten dead.

Deputy Commissioner Dwayne McDonald stated Van Rootselaar "was biologically born male" and started transitioning to female six years ago.

McDonald declared police would continue identifying the perpetrator as female, respecting "her" gender of choice in all official references.

Authorities have not determined the motive behind one of Canada's worst mass killings.

Van Rootselaar's family was previously known to police; officers visited the home last spring for mental health concerns involving self-harm.

"Police had attended that residence on a number of occasions over the last several years dealing with concerns of mental health with our suspect," McDonald said.