Too many try to explain away mass shootings and fit them into an ideological framework

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Tumbler Ridge will never be the same.

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As a small town of fewer than 2,500 people, places like the local high school are a daily gathering place for a community in which everyone knows everyone. Both teachers and parents can see the future on the faces of their students and children.

That was all shattered on Tuesday, when a mass shooter took the lives of nine people and injured more than two dozen more before turning the weapon on themselves. Police found the victims at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School, and more elsewhere.

Early reporting was confused, with some unconfirmed stories that there was a second suspect. The motives for this massacre are still unknown, but evidence is being gathered that will soon provide answers. On Wednesday, RCMP named the shooter as Jesse Van Rootselaar, 18, who identified as a transwoman.

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Regardless of the details, some people........

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