A mass shooting at a secondary school in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, has left multiple people injured, with two victims airlifted to hospital with serious or life-threatening injuries, police said. About 25 others were being treated at a local medical center.
Authorities issued an emergency alert describing the suspect as a brown-haired woman wearing a dress. While police know the suspect’s identity, they declined to release further details or confirm if the suspect is a child.
Superintendent Ken Floyd of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police’s North District said investigators are still trying to determine the motive behind the attack. “We are not in a place now to be able to understand why or what may have motivated this tragedy,” he stated.
Mass shootings are extremely rare in Canada, which has stricter gun laws than the United States. According to national statistics, 38% of homicides in Canada involved a firearm in 2023, compared with 76% in the US. Gun ownership is also lower, with an estimated 35 guns per 100 residents in Canada, compared to 121 per 100 in the US.
The tight-knit community of Tumbler Ridge, a town of about 680 kilometers from the US border, is grappling with the aftermath. Mayor Darryl Krakowka described the victims as family, noting the small size of the town. The school, which has 175 students from Grades 7 to 12, has been deeply affected by the incident.
Students, including 12th-grader Darian Quist, described barricading doors in their classroom after realizing the alarm was not a drill. “Some students began to share disturbing photos of what was actually happening elsewhere in the school, showing blood and things like that,” Quist said.
Parents, like Shelley Quist, waited anxiously outside as police escorted students to safety. “It’s one of those things where you just never think this is going to happen,” she said, recalling the panic and fear as the situation unfolded.
Authorities continue to investigate, with the community trying to come to terms with the unprecedented violence in their small town.
