At least nine people were killed and 27 wounded in a shooting at a secondary school in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, on Tuesday, with the suspected shooter later found dead from an apparent self-inflicted injury, Canadian police said.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) said officers responded to reports of a shooting at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School and a second nearby location. Authorities did not immediately provide details on a possible motive.
“At least nine deceased victims have been confirmed,” the RCMP said in a statement, adding that the suspect, identified as a woman, was located dead with what appeared to be a self-inflicted injury.
Two people were airlifted to hospital with serious or life-threatening injuries, while 25 others were being treated locally, police said. All remaining students and staff were safely evacuated from the school.
British Columbia Premier David Eby described the shooting as an “unimaginable tragedy” and said the provincial government would ensure support for the affected community.
Prime Minister Mark Carney said he was “devastated” by the attack and suspended a planned trip to Europe, according to his office.
Darian Quist, a Grade 12 student at the school, told CBC Radio that he and his classmates barricaded classroom doors for more than two hours before police escorted them out.
Local journalist Trent Ernst, who livestreamed developments as the police operation unfolded, said the violence had shaken the small town’s sense of security.
Mass shootings are relatively rare in Canada, which has stricter gun laws than its southern neighbour, but the country has experienced several high-profile attacks in recent decades.
In April 2020, a gunman killed at least 16 people in Nova Scotia in one of the deadliest mass shootings in Canadian history. In 2017, six people were killed in a shooting at a mosque in Quebec City. In 1989, a gunman killed 14 women at Montreal’s Ecole Polytechnique in an attack that remains one of the country’s most infamous acts of mass violence.
Police said the investigation into Tuesday’s attack remains ongoing.
