(Daily Caller News Foundation) – Reuters labeled a biological male transgender suspected mass shooter a female after the individual allegedly killed nine people at a Canadian school.
Police reportedly referred to the suspect as “a woman in a dress with brown hair” in a Tuesday alert prior to the individual being identified as a transgender named Jesse Van Rootselaar. Reuters published an article headlined, “Canadian school shooter identified as 18-year-old woman with mental health issues” as of Wednesday afternoon.
Reuters reported in the article that Canadian police identified the suspect, who committed suicide after the massacre, as a woman. Deputy Commissioner Dwayne McDonald, commander of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in British Columbia, said the suspect had been identifying as a female for several years despite being born male, according to the outlet.
“Police had attended that (family) residence on multiple occasions over the past several years, dealing with concerns of mental health with respect to our suspect,” McDonald said, Reuters reported.
Reuters also reported that the suspect “first killed her mother, 39, and 11-year-old step-brother at the family home,” using a female pronoun for the alleged mass murderer.
Over 25 individuals were injured in the attack, CBC News reported on Wednesday.
British Columbia’s Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General Nina Krieger reportedly called the massacre “one of the worst mass shootings in our province’s and country’s history.”
The social media footprint allegedly linked to Van Rootselaar reveals the suspect’s path to radicalization, including identity issues and biological confusion.
Outlets including The Washington Post, NBC News and The Daily Mail also referred to Robin Westman, another biological male transgender who killed two children in August, by preferred feminine pronouns in their coverage regarding the Catholic school shooting in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Westman, 23, killed an 8-year-old and a 10-year-old and injured 17 others after opening fire through the window of the Annunciation Catholic Church during a school Mass service before committing suicide.
Reuters did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
