By Ben Simon, AFP
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. Photo: Dave Chan / AFP
Canada is in mourning, Prime Minister Mark Carney says, after a lone shooter killed at least nine people, including seven at a school, and injured dozens more in a remote western town.
An emotional Carney said in brief remarks to reporters that "the nation mourns" with British Columbia's Tumbler Ridge after Tuesday's (local time) shooting. "Canada stands by you."
He said he had requested flags be lowered to half-staff for seven days following the tragedy, among the deadliest shootings in Canada's history, and that numerous world leaders had offered their condolences.
Tumbler Ridge, a tight-knit community of about 2400 residents, lies in the foothills of the Canadian Rockies near the provincial border with Alberta, hundreds of kilometers from any major city.
Mayor Darryl Krakowka told public broadcaster CBC "the community is grieving. It's a big tragedy, we're one big family here".
The town was in a state of shock Wednesday as media began to descend on the remote community, ringed by snow-capped mountains.
Emergency responders found six people shot dead Tuesday at Tumbler Ridge's secondary school, while a seventh person died in transit to hospital, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said in a statement.
This photograph provided by local journalist Trent Ernst shows the middle school and high school building where a shooting took place, leaving at least nine people dead in the small town of Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, on February 10, 2026. Photo: AFP / TRENT ERNST
Two others were killed at a nearby residence, while at least 25 people sustained injuries in the attack.
The suspect, described by police in an initial emergency alert as a "female in a dress with brown hair", was found dead at the school with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Police have not yet released identifying information about the shooter or victims, but CBC News reported the suspect's identity was known to authorities.
"We will get through this. We will learn from this. But right now, it's a time to come together, as Canadians always do in these situations, these terrible situations, to support each other, to mourn together and to grow together," Carney said.
He called off a planned trip to the Munich Security Conference and will brief parliament at 2pm (8am NZT).
King Charles, the monarch of Canada, said in a statement that he and Queen Camilla were "profoundly shocked and saddened" to learn of the attack.
"In such a closely connected town, every child's name will be known and every family will be a neighbour," he said.
While several mass killings have occurred in recent years in Canada, deadly attacks on schools are very rare, especially compared to the neighbouring United States.
In 1989, a self-described anti-feminist man killed 13 female students and a secretary at Montreal's Ecole Polytechnique.
After the country's deadliest shooting attack, which left 22 people dead in Nova Scotia in 2020, Canada banned some 1500 models of assault weapons.
'Disturbing'
Tumbler Ridge student Darian Quist told CBC he was in his mechanics class when there was an announcement that the school was in lockdown.
He said initially he "didn't think anything was going on", but started receiving "disturbing" photos about the carnage.
"It set in what was happening," Quist said.
He stayed in lockdown for more than two hours until police stormed in, ordering everyone to put their hands up before escorting them out of the school.
Area schools will remain closed for the rest of the week.
Local journalist Trent Ernst, a former substitute teacher at Tumbler Ridge, expressed shock over the shooting at the school, where one of his children had just graduated.
He noted that school shootings have been a rarity occurring every few years in Canada compared with the United States.
"I used to kind of go: 'Look at Canada, look at who we are.' But then that one school shooting every 2.5 years happens in your town and things... just go off the rails," he told AFP.
Pastor George Rowe of Tumbler Ridge Fellowship Church told CBC that it was "very, very difficult to deal with".
"Everybody here, practically, they know everybody... I don't think it will be a big surprise when the name is released because you're in a small community," he said.
Ken Floyd, commander of the police's northern district, said Tuesday was "an incredibly difficult and emotional day" and that the investigation was ongoing.
Floyd told reporters the shooter was the same suspect police described as "female" in a prior emergency alert, but declined to provide any details on the suspect's identity.
Officers were searching homes and properties in the community to see if there were additional sites connected to the incident.
- AFP
