A mass shooting in a remote part of western Canada killed nine people , including seven who were shot at a secondary school, before the suspect took their own life.
The killings occurred in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, a picturesque mountain valley town in the foothills of the Rockies.
A total of 27 people were wounded, including two with serious injuries and 25 others who suffered non-life-threatening injuries, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said in a statement.
Canadian media have reported that the shooter was female, but the RCMP declined to provide any details on the suspect’s identity in a press conference.
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 while en route to hospital.
Separately, police found two more dead bodies at a residence in Tumbler Ridge.
This 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.”
He said that initially he “didn’t think anything was going on,” but started receiving “disturbing” photos about the carnage at the school.
