Canada Reels From Deadliest School Shooting in Decades. What We Know

A mass shooting at a school in a remote British Columbia town has left seven people dead, and two more at a nearby home, Canadian police said Tuesday. 

A woman believed to be the shooter was found dead at the school from what police described as a “self‑inflicted injury.” More than 25 people were wounded in the rampage. Two more were airlifted to hospital from the school with life-threatening injuries.

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The town of Tumbler Ridge is some 600 miles from the nearest large city, Vancouver, in the foothills of the Canadian Rockies. It has a population of 2,400.

Read more: Canada Risks Following the Path of the U.S. on Gun Violence

Mass shootings in Canada are rare due to the country’s strict gun laws. But locals have described Tumbler Ridge as a hunting town where gun ownership is common, in interviews with the media.

The shooting at Tumbler Ridge may be the deadliest school shooting since 14 women were killed in the Ecole Polytechnique massacre in Montreal on Dec. 6, 1989, before the gunman took his own life.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said in a post on social media that he was “devastated” by what he described as “horrific acts of violence.”

“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.

Here is everything we know about the shooting so far. 

How the attack unfolded 

Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP)  said they received a report of an “active shooter” at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School at approximately 1.20 pm on Tuesday. 

Jarbas Noronha, who teaches a 12th grade auto mechanic shop class at the school, told the New York Times that he learned of the shooting when a student came running to the shop saying they heard gunshots. 

Minutes later, he said, the principal ran to the shop and shouted “Lockdown!” He and the students then barricaded the doors with metal benches. 

Police entered the school to find six victims, and the person believed to be the shooter, who was “found deceased with what appears to be a self‑inflicted injury,” according to a statement from the RCMP. All remaining students and staff were safely evacuated, police said. 

Video from the scene showed students exiting the school with their hands raised, while a helicopter landed nearby. 

RCMP Superintendent Ken Floyd told reporters following the incident: “The scene was very dramatic, and there were multiple victims that are still being cared for.” 

Two people were airlifted from the school to hospital with serious or life-threatening injuries, police said, and a third victim died while being transported. 

Approximately 25 other people are treated at local medical facilities for non‑life‑threatening injuries.

Tumbler Ridge Secondary School has 175 students, according to the provincial government.

What do we know about the suspect?

Superintendent Floyd said authorities had identified a suspect in the shooting, but were not yet releasing a name to the public. 

He told reporters the suspect matched the description described in a police alert to the community earlier in the day. That alert described a “female in a dress with brown hair.”

British Columbia police said the suspect died of what appeared to be a self-inflicted injury at the school.  

Police said they are currently searching several properties in relation to their investigation into today’s shooting.  

“As part of the ongoing investigation, police have identified a secondary location believed to be connected to the incident, where two additional victims were located deceased in a residence. Officers are conducting further searches of additional homes and properties to determine whether anyone else may be injured or otherwise linked to today’s events,” the RCMP said. 

What are Canada’s gun laws?  

Mass shootings are rare in Canada, but not unheard of. Its gun laws are much stricter than in the United States, but gun ownership is still widespread—especially in rural areas, where they are mostly used for hunting.

The Canadian government estimates that about 10,040,000 firearms are in circulation, according to its latest data, which is from 2020.

Canadians must have a license to own a firearm. To hold a license, they must be at least 18 and complete a safety course every five years. Certain types of guns—like handguns—must be registered.

Some exceptions are made for indigenous communities, who use guns for hunting.  

Canada has made several changes to its gun laws in response to mass shootings. Former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau introduced new restrictions in 2020 following a mass shooting in Portapique, Nova Scotia.

That shooting, in which 51-year-old Gabriel Wortman carried out multiple shootings and set fires at several locations while driving a fake police car, killing 22 people, was the deadliest shooting rampage in Canadian history.

Days after the attack, Trudeau announced a ban on some 1,500 types of assault-style weapons. Since then, the Canadian government has banned more than 2,500 makes and models of “assault-style firearms.”  

The Canadian government also has a “buyback” scheme for military-style assault rifles.