Three days after one of the deadliest mass shootings in Canada's history, it's still unclear how the shooter, who had a history of mental illness, got hold of the guns recovered at the two crime scenes.

On Friday, police released more information about the number and type of guns involved, saying they are now investigating the use of four firearms — two retrieved from the school and two from the home.

**But they said they still don't know where the primary gun used in the school came from.**  
RCMP Deputy Commissioner Dwayne McDonald said the attacker used an unregistered shotgun to kill her mother and brother at their home. That shotgun has never been seized by police, he said.

Van Rootselaar then used different firearms at the school, he said. McDonald said that firearm is "believed to be the one that caused the most significant damage" at the school and had never been seized by the RCMP.

"We're trying to determine how our suspect got that firearm," he said.

**Police initially described one of the guns found at the school as a modified handgun. However, on Friday, they said it was a modified rifle, and its origin is unknown.**

"There are certain types of firearms, unrestricted, that do not have to be registered. So we're trying to determine and trace the origin of all firearms," he said.

On Friday, he said the shooter's mother, Jennifer Strang, who was found dead at the family home, held a valid possession and acquisition licence (PAL). However, there were no firearms registered to that licence.

Police had previously said the shooter's firearm licence had expired in 2024 and that no guns were registered under Van Rootselaar's name.

Questions about which firearms were used in Tumbler Ridge come as the federal government is in the middle of rolling out a delayed, politically unpopular and logistically challenging national gun buyback program.

Following the 2020 mass shooting in Nova Scotia, when a gunman killed 22 people, Ottawa moved to ban some 2,500 makes and models of what the federal government calls "assault-style" firearms.

The government, both under former prime minister Justin Trudeau and now Prime Minister Mark Carney, have argued the outlawed firearms are designed for warfare — not hunters and sport shooters — and promised to compensate owners.

The amnesty period for possessing banned guns will end on Oct. 30. Anyone in possession after that "will be breaking the law and could face criminal prosecution."

But with Alberta and Saskatchewan setting up legislative roadblocks and few police forces signing on, collection could prove to be difficult. The government has suggested it will rely on the RCMP and mobile collection units.

But the minister's own commitment to the program has been questioned. 

In September, Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree found himself in hot water after [he suggested in an audio recording](https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/carney-anandasangaree-buyback-analysis-1.7642803) that an acquaintance shouldn't worry about being arrested for refusing to turn in a banned firearm because municipal police have few resources to devote to such matters.

The minister was also recorded saying the buyback was in part being done because the issue is important to Quebec voters.

In a statement at the time, Anandasangaree said his comments were "misguided." 

What we know — and don't — about the guns used in the Tumbler Ridge, B.C., shooting