At least ten people have died after a suspected female shooter opened fire on a high school and private residence, before turning the gun on themselves.
Six people were killed and 25 were injured at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School in British Columbia on Tuesday afternoon in the second-deadliest school shooting in Canadian history.
An additional victim died on the way to the hospital. Two more people were found dead at a nearby home believed to be connected to the deadly attack.
The shooter was pronounced dead at the scene. Police believe the individual died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
The condition of those injured remains unknown.
The attacker has not yet been named and a motive remains unclear. An emergency alert described the shooter as a ‘female in a dress with brown hair’.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police has not confirmed if the suspect found dead at the school is the same person described in the alert.
Details about the victims, including their ages, are being withheld pending family notification, police said, citing privacy laws.
An emergency alert was issued to residents around 1.20pm local time Tuesday, warning of an active shooter in the area.
An urgent lockdown alarm sounded in the hallways shortly after 1.30pm, instructing students and staff to barricade the doors.
Darian Quist, a grade 12 student, told CBC News that he and his classmates were locked down for more than two hours.
A video showed students walking out of the school with their hands raised as police vehicles surrounded the building and a helicopter circled overhead.
Tumbler Ridge, a picturesque mountain valley town in the foothills of the Rockies about 736 miles north of Vancouver, has a population of 2,400.
It is described as an ‘incredibly safe community’ by town councillors.
The remote community is known for its lakes, rivers, waterfalls and hiking trails. The area earned UNESCO Global Geopark status for its hundreds of dinosaur tracks and fossils.
The secondary school, which enrolls 175 students, and its elementary school, will be closed for the rest of the week.
British Columbia Premier David Eby told reporters that police officers reached the school within two minutes.
RCMP Superintendent Ken Floyd added that investigators had identified a suspect but would not release a name, and that the shooter’s motive remained unclear.
He added that police are still investigating the connection between the shooter and the victims.
Tumbler Ridge Mayor Darryl Krakowka said the whole community is grieving.
‘I broke down,’ he said, saying it was ‘devastating’ to learn how many had died in the community of 2,700, which he called a ‘big family’.
‘I have lived here for 18 years,’ Krakowka said. ‘I probably know every one of the victims.’
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said in a social media post that he was devastated by the shooting.
‘I join Canadians in grieving with those whose lives have been changed irreversibly today, and in gratitude for the courage and selflessness of the first responders who risked their lives to protect their fellow citizens,’ he wrote.
Carney’s office said he is suspending a planned trip to Halifax, Nova Scotia and Munich, Germany. He was set to announce a long-awaited defense industrial strategy in Halifax on Wednesday before heading to Europe for the Munich Security Conference.
Eby, the province’s premier, told reporters he had spoken to Carney after what he called the ‘unimaginable tragedy’.
‘I know it’s causing us all to hug our kids a little bit tighter tonight,’ he said. ‘I’m asking the people of British Columbia to look after the people of Tumbler Ridge tonight.’
Canada’s government has responded to previous mass shootings with gun control measures, including a recently broadened ban on all guns it considers assault weapons.
Tuesday’s shootings were Canada’s deadliest rampage since 2020, when a gunman in Nova Scotia killed 13 people and set fires that left another nine dead.
This is a breaking news story. Check back for updates.
