On Feb. 11, 2026, Canadian authorities identified 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar as the attacker in a shooting the previous day that killed eight people and wounded more than 25 more in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia. She reportedly died from a self-inflicted wound.
Officials (at 8:17) confirmed Van Rootselaar began to transition from a biological male to female six years earlier and publicly identified as a female, noting that it was too early in the investigation to determine whether her trans identity had any bearing on a possible motive.
Shortly after authorities identified Van Rootselaar, an image began circulating on social media (archived, archived, archived) that allegedly showed her holding an assault rifle and wearing a shirt that read "Internet Princess."
(X user @Breaking911)
The image did not depict Van Rootselaar. It was a years-old picture of social media influencer William Sexton, who uses the name Vrillium, that was altered using artificial intelligence to make it appear as though Sexton was holding a gun. Because of this, we've rated this claim as fake.
The original image — first posted in February 2020 (archived) — depicted Sexton holding a guitar, not an assault rifle. If the circulated image was unaltered, the gun would appear in the mirror behind Sexton.
Sexton confirmed on his social media accounts that he was not the shooter, writing on his Instagram story on Feb. 11: "Insane I have to say this: No, I'm not the trans shooter from Canada."
(Instagram user @vrilliumlive)
The image previously resurfaced in December 2025 when users circulated images of Sexton from his alternate X accounts (circulated image at lower left):
(X user @BillySexton2013)
Sexton later addressed the images in since-deleted posts, saying: "I don't get how this is a 'gotcha' when this is like, a staple of my brand. I was a drug addled, sexually deviant, leftist degenerate who was saved by Christ in 2023."
Snopes could not immediately identify who originally posted the AI-altered image of Sexton.
The misidentification of Sexton as the shooter was further confirmed by an authentic image of Van Rootselaar released by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police on Feb. 11 (archived).
(Royal Canadian Mounted Police)
In short, the image of a person holding an assault rifle did not depict Van Rootselaar. The original image was posted in 2020 by Sexton, who held a guitar, not an assault rifle. Sexton confirmed on his Instagram story that he was not the shooter, and Canadian police released an authentic image of Van Rootselaar on Feb. 11 that further confirmed the circulated image misidentified Sexton as the shooter.