The social media history of Jesse Van Rootselaar, who killed eight people in one of the deadliest mass shootings in Canadian history, reveals a deeply troubled young man whose obsession with hallucinogenic drugs and firearms stretched back years before the massacre.

Posts archived from Reddit, paint a disturbing picture of a young man who openly discussed his drug habits, mental health struggles and weapons collection in the years leading up to the Tumbler Ridge school shooting.

Drug questions flagged years before massacre

“Yo what’s the danger in using 5-MeO-DMT alone?” he asked in a November 2023 thread, referring to a potent hallucinogen nicknamed “toad venom” and described by some experts as the “Mount Everest of psychedelics.”

“Genuinely don’t know, not tryna die. I do N,N-DMT frequently and it seems to be completely safe for me,” he said, referencing other powerful hallucinogenic substances.

The same posts revealed he was taking a cocktail of psychiatric medications while continuing to experiment with illegal substances.

“I am on Sertraline 280mg (SSRI) I on rare occasion take 2mg of Risperidone for sleep purposes (Anti-Psychotic) I also smoke a decent bit of weed,” he wrote, noting he previously had a “complete mental break” while taking a moderate dose of magic mushrooms.

Reddit posts also disclosed a string of mental health diagnoses — ADHD, OCD, major depressive disorder and autism spectrum disorder.

Psychiatric ward stint did not stop drug use

An October 2023 post revealed Van Rootselaar had recently been discharged from a psychiatric unit, yet was already contemplating further drug experimentation.

“Hi, I’m gonna keep this brief. It’s 4am, got out of the psyche ward like a month ago and now I’m here,” the post starts.

“I tried shrooms once, it was a small unmeasured dose and it was chill. The second time I tried it I took 3 grams of Blue Meanie ground up into some peanut butter and had a complete break from reality and did a lot of irrational things, I felt like I was dreaming. Many consequences ensued.”

His April 2024 activity on the platform grew increasingly bizarre, with one thread posing the question: “could someone theoretically get the effects of a substance off an addicts urine?” — an idea he said he had picked up from song lyrics.

Weapons obsession documented online

Alongside his drug posts, Van Rootselaar used Reddit to show off his firearms, with his Chinese SKS semi-automatic rifle featuring prominently on a dedicated guns forum.

A separate post showed him at a firing range with a gold-plated handgun. “I blew up their desert eagle!” he wrote alongside a video of himself discharging the weapon.

Police had prior contact with gunman

Authorities confirmed at a Wednesday press conference that Van Rootselaar had come to their attention before the shootings. His address had been visited by officers on multiple occasions, with Van Rootselaar having been sectioned under mental health powers at least twice.

Firearms had been removed from the property on a previous occasion, only to be handed back when whoever held legal ownership formally requested their return. The identity of that owner was not established.

Eight killed in school library massacre

After shooting dead his mother Jennifer and his 11-year-old stepbrother at home, Van Rootselaar headed to Tumbler Ridge Secondary School and opened fire. A teacher and five students aged between 12 and 13 lost their lives in the attack, which was concentrated in the school library.

He died by his own hand in the aftermath of the rampage.

Wednesday’s press conference heard that Van Rootselaar had been assigned male at birth and had embarked on a transition to female roughly six years earlier.