A shooter killed at least nine people and injured scores more at a secondary school and residence in a remote section of western Canada on Tuesday, before the suspect took his own life.
The killings took place in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, a lovely mountain valley village at the foothills of the Rockies.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police stated 27 persons were injured, including two with serious injuries and 25 with non-life-threatening injuries.
According to Canadian media, the gunman was female, but the RCMP declined to reveal the suspect’s identity during a press conference on Tuesday.
Prime Minister Mark Carney said he was “devastated” by the “horrific acts of violence” and announced that he would cancel his plans to attend the Munich Security Conference on Wednesday, where he was scheduled to meet with partners about transatlantic defense readiness.
On Tuesday afternoon, police issued an alert regarding a possible active shooter at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School.
As authorities investigated the school, they discovered six victims who had been shot. A seventh victim with a gunshot wound died on the way to the hospital.
Separately, police found two more bodies at a residence in Tumbler Ridge.
The residence is “believed to be connected to the incident,” police said.
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.
In a statement, the municipality of Tumbler Ridge said, “There are no words sufficient for the heartbreak our community is experiencing tonight.”
Darian Quist, a Tumbler Ridge student, told CBC that he was in his mechanics class when the school was placed under lockdown.
He stated that he originally “didn’t think anything was going on,” but later received “disturbing” photographs of the carnage at the school.
“It solidified what was happening,” Quist explained.
He claimed he remained in lockdown for more than two hours before cops swooped in and ordered everyone to raise their hands before leading them out of the school.
Shelley Quist, Darian’s mother, said she embraced her son when they reunited after the location was pronounced safe.
“He’s not going to be out of my sight for a while now,” she told the CBC.
Trent Ernst, a local journalist and former substitute teacher at Tumbler Ridge, told AFP that one of his children had graduated from the school.
“There’ve been troubled kids here in town before,” he said.
Police have not yet disclosed any information regarding the shooter’s or victims’ ages.
