At least nine people have been shot dead at a high school and a nearby residence in Tumbler Ridge, a rural mountain town in British Columbia, marking Canada’s deadliest school shooting in decades.
Police reported discovering six people dead and dozens injured after responding to calls of an active shooter at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School around 1:20 p.m. local time on Tuesday.
An additional victim died while being transported to the hospital, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police confirmed.
Authorities also found two more deceased at a residence believed to be connected to the shooting.
The suspected shooter was found dead at the school with “what appears to be a self-inflicted injury,” according to police.
The RCMP’s emergency alert described the suspect as a brown-haired woman wearing a dress, CBC News reported.
Two victims were airlifted to hospital with serious or life-threatening injuries, while roughly 25 others with less severe injuries are being treated at a local medical centre.
Tumbler Ridge Secondary School serves 175 students in Grades 7 through 12. Police have not yet established a motive for the attack.
“We are not in a place now to be able to understand why or what may have motivated this tragedy,” said Superintendent Ken Floyd, North District commander, during a Tuesday press conference.
“I think we will struggle to determine the ‘why,’ but we will try our best to determine what transpired,” he added.
It remains unclear how many of the victims were children or their relationship, if any, to the shooter.
Police have identified the suspect but are withholding further details for privacy reasons, and Floyd declined to say whether the individual was a child.
Tumbler Ridge, a town of roughly 2,400 residents at the base of the Rocky Mountains, is located about 680 kilometers (422 miles) from the U.S. border. Authorities do not believe there is any ongoing threat.
The shelter-in-place alert issued earlier in the day was lifted at 5:45 p.m. local time.
Mass shootings are extremely rare in Canada, which enforces stricter gun laws than the United States.
According to the Small Arms Research Project, the U.S. has 121 firearms per 100 residents, compared with an estimated 35 per 100 in Canada.
Attacks of this scale are almost unprecedented. In 1989, 14 women were killed at Montréal’s École Polytechnique, a tragedy that prompted national reflection on violence against women and led to tighter firearm regulations.
Assault-style rifles, the type often used in major U.S. school shootings, are banned in Canada.
Both Tumbler Ridge Secondary School and the town’s elementary school will remain closed for the rest of the week, according to the local school district.
British Columbia Premier David Eby described the incident as a “devastating and unimaginable tragedy” during a press conference Tuesday evening.
“We can’t imagine what the community is going through. But I know it’s causing us all to hug our kids a little tighter tonight.”
Larry Neufeld, provincial MP for Peace River South, which includes Tumbler Ridge, called the shooting “tragic and deeply disturbing” in a social media post.
“This is a small, close-knit town, and the impact of an event like this is felt by everyone,” he said.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney expressed his condolences, posting on X: his “prayers and deepest condolences are with the families and friends who have lost loved ones to these horrific acts of violence.”
