Canada police say 18-year-old carried out mass shooting
Canadian police on Wednesday said an 18-year-old local resident carried out what Prime Minister Mark Carney called an act of "unheard-of cruelty" in murdering eight people and wounding dozens more in a remote mining town.
Police officer Dwayne McDonald said authorities still have no idea of the motive in Tuesday's mass shooting in Tumbler Ridge, but identified the shooter as a woman who was born biologically male.
McDonald revised the toll down to eight from nine, due to earlier confusion over the condition of one of the victims.
The shooter, armed with a long-barreled gun and a pistol, was found dead from "a self-inflicted gunshot wound" after the massacre, said McDonald, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police deputy commissioner in British Columbia.
The shooter's victims included her mother and brother, McDonald said.
Flags will be lowered nationwide to half-staff for seven days following the tragedy, among the deadliest shootings in Canada's history. Messages of support have flooded in from world leaders.
Prime Minister Carney said "what happened has left our nation in shock and all of us in mourning."
"These children and their teachers bore witness to unheard-of cruelty. I want everyone to know this: our entire country stands with you, on behalf of all Canadians," he said in an emotional address to parliament.
Tumbler Ridge, a tight-knit community of about 2,400 residents, lies in the foothills of the Canadian Rockies near the provincial border with Alberta, hundreds of kilometers from any major city.
Carney described it as a tough, blue-collar place of "miners, teachers, construction workers" who represent "the very best of Canada: resilient, compassionate and strong."
"We're one big family here," Mayor Darryl Krakowka told public broadcaster CBC.
- 'Will get through this' -
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.
Two others were killed at a nearby residence, while at least 25 people were wounded in the attack.
The suspect, initially described by police in an emergency alert as a "female in a dress with brown hair," was found dead at the school.
"We will get through this. We will learn from this. But right now, it's a time to come together, as Canadians always do," Carney said.
He called off a planned trip to the Munich Security Conference in Germany.
Britain's 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 neighbor," he said.
School shootings remain rare in Canada compared to the neighboring United States.
This tragedy ranks among the country's deadliest, following the 2020 Nova Scotia mass shooting which claimed 22 lives and led to a ban on many assault weapons.
- Small community -
Tumbler Ridge student Darian Quist told Canadian broadcaster 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.
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.
"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.
burs/sms/aha
(A.Mathebula--TPT)
