A shooting at a school in British Columbia left eight people dead, including a woman police believe was the shooter, while two more people were found dead at a nearby home, Canadian authorities said Tuesday.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said more than 25 people were injured, including two who were airlifted to a hospital with life-threatening injuries, in the shooting at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School.
School shootings are rare in Canada.
Tumbler Ridge, a town of about 2,400 people, is more than 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) north of Vancouver, near the Alberta border. According to the provincial government website, Tumbler Ridge Secondary School has 175 students in grades 7 through 12.
British Columbia Premier David Eby told reporters that police officers arrived at the school within two minutes.
They found seven people dead, local police said in a statement, including a suspect who appeared to have died of a “self-inflicted injury.” An eighth person died while being transported to a hospital. Two more people were found dead at a home authorities believe was connected to the attack.
RCMP Superintendent Ken Floyd told reporters that investigators had identified a female suspect but would not release her name. He said the shooter’s motive remains unclear and that police are still investigating how the victims were connected to her.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said in a statement on social media that he was devastated by the shooting in Tumbler Ridge.
“I join Canadians in grieving with those whose lives have been changed irreversibly today, and in gratitude for the courage and selflessness of the first responders who risked their lives to protect their fellow citizens,” he wrote.
Carney’s office said he is suspending a planned trip to Halifax, Nova Scotia, and Munich, Germany. He had been set to announce a long-awaited defense industrial strategy in Halifax on Wednesday before heading to Europe for the Munich Security Conference.
Eby said he had spoken to Carney after what he called the “unimaginable tragedy.”
“I know it’s causing us all to hug our kids a little bit tighter tonight,” he said. “I’m asking the people of British Columbia to look after the people of Tumbler Ridge tonight.”
Canada’s government has responded to previous mass shootings with gun control measures, including a recently broadened ban on what it considers assault weapons.
Tuesday’s shootings were Canada’s deadliest rampage since 2020, when a gunman in Nova Scotia killed 13 people and set fires that left another nine dead.