Nine Killed and More Than 25 Injured in Shooting at School in Canada

At least nine people have been killed and more than 25 injured in a shooting at a high school and a nearby residential home in a town in Canada’s British Columbia province. It is considered the deadliest mass shooting in Canada in decades.

Police said officers responded to reports of gunfire at around 1:20 p.m. local time Tuesday at a school in the town of Tumbler Ridge. Six people were found dead at the scene, and dozens were injured.

According to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), another person died while being transported to the hospital. Police also discovered two additional bodies at a nearby home believed to be connected to the incident.

Authorities said the suspected attacker was found dead inside the school. Police indicated the death appeared to be self-inflicted. An emergency alert described the suspect as a woman with brown hair wearing a gown.

Two critically injured victims were airlifted by helicopter, while about 25 others suffered minor injuries. According to a provincial website, Tumbler Ridge Secondary School serves about 175 students from grades 7 through 12.

North District Commander Superintendent Ken Floyd said the motive for the attack remains unclear. It is not yet known how many of the victims were children or what relationship, if any, they had with the suspect.

Although police have identified the attacker, they said they would not release details due to privacy concerns. The suspect’s age has also not been disclosed. Tumbler Ridge, located at the foothills of the Rocky Mountains in western Canada, is a small town with a population of about 2,400 and lies roughly 680 kilometers from the U.S. border.

Police said there is no ongoing threat to public safety. Earlier, residents had been urged to stay indoors as a precaution.

Mass shootings are considered extremely rare in Canada, where gun laws are significantly stricter than in the United States. According to the Small Arms Research Project, there are about 121 firearms per 100 people in the U.S., compared with an estimated 35 per 100 people in Canada.

School shootings of this scale are especially uncommon. In 1989, a gunman killed 14 women at Montreal’s École Polytechnique, an attack that sparked a national debate about violence against women and led to stricter gun control laws.

British Columbia Premier David Eby called the incident devastating and unimaginably tragic. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney also expressed deep condolences to the families and loved ones of those killed in the violence in a post on the social media platform X.