A gunman killed nine people and wounded 27 in a rare Canadian mass shooting at a secondary school and a linked residence in British Columbia.
TUMBLER RIDGE: A shooter killed nine people and wounded dozens more at a secondary school and a residence in a remote part of western Canada. Authorities described the incident as a rare mass shooting in the country.
The suspect, initially described by police as a “female in a dress with brown hair,” was found dead with an apparent self-inflicted injury. The attack occurred in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, a picturesque mountain valley town in the foothills of the Rockies.
A total of 27 people were wounded in the shooting, including two with serious injuries. Police said an alert was issued about an active shooter at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School on Tuesday afternoon.
As police searched the school, they found six people shot dead. A seventh person with a gunshot wound died en route to hospital.
Separately, police found two more bodies at a residence in the town believed to be connected to the incident. At the school, “an individual believed to be the shooter was also found deceased with what appears to be a self-inflicted injury,” police said.
Prime Minister Mark Carney said he was “devastated” by the “horrific acts of violence”. He suspended plans to travel to the Munich Security Conference on Wednesday.
“We are devastated by the loss of life and the profound impact this tragedy has had on families, students, staff, and our entire town,” the municipality of Tumbler Ridge said in a statement.
Tumbler Ridge student Darian Quist told public broadcaster CBC he was in lockdown for more than two hours. He started receiving “disturbing” photos about the carnage before police stormed in.
Darian’s mother, Shelley Quist, said she embraced her son when they finally connected. “He’s not going to be out of my sight for a while now,” she told the broadcaster.
Police commander Ken Floyd described the incident as “a rapidly evolving and dynamic situation”. He said the shooter was the same suspect described as “female” in a prior emergency alert.
Floyd declined to provide any details on the suspect’s identity. Police have not yet released information about the age of the shooter or the victims.
Officers were searching other homes and properties in the community for additional connected sites. Tumbler Ridge is a quiet town with roughly 2,400 residents more than 1,100 kilometres north of Vancouver.
Mass shootings are extremely rare in Canada. British Columbia Premier David Eby called the latest violence “unimaginable”.
“There are no words sufficient for the heartbreak our community is experiencing tonight,” the municipality said.
