Tumbler Ridge, a mountain town in northern British Columbia with a population of roughly 2,400 to 2,700 people, is more than 1,000 kilometers from Vancouver and near the Alberta border. Its secondary school serves 175 students in Grades 7 through 12.
On Tuesday, violence struck both the school and a nearby residence.
Police said six people were found dead inside Tumbler Ridge Secondary School after a shooting unfolded there; another victim died while being transported to hospital. Investigators later located two additional bodies at a home authorities believe is connected to the attack.
The suspected shooter, identified by police as a woman, was found dead at the school from what appeared to be a self-inflicted injury.
An earlier active shooter alert described the suspect as “a female in a dress with brown hair.” RCMP Superintendent Ken Floyd later confirmed that the description referred to the same individual discovered inside the building.
More than 25 people were injured. Two were airlifted to hospital with life-threatening injuries; the rest were treated for serious and non-life-threatening wounds.
As officers moved through the school, Floyd described what they encountered.
“Multiple injuries and multiple deceased were inside the school as officers progressed through the scene,” he told reporters.
“We’re still triaging other victims, and I don’t have updates on whether that number could rise. The scene was very dramatic, and there are multiple victims that are still being cared for,” Floyd said.
Police stated they do not believe there are additional suspects or an ongoing threat to the public. Investigators are examining how the victims were connected to the shooter and have not released a motive. Authorities have not said how many of those killed were minors.
Video from outside the campus showed students exiting with their hands raised as police vehicles surrounded the school and a helicopter circled overhead. British Columbia Premier David Eby said officers reached the site within two minutes of the shooting being reported.
In Canada, school shootings are rare. Tuesday’s violence was described as the country’s deadliest rampage since 2020, when a gunman in Nova Scotia killed 13 people and set fires that left another nine dead during a 13-hour attack. Canada’s worst school shooting occurred in 1989, when a gunman killed 14 female students and wounded 13 others at Montreal’s Ecole Polytechnique before committing suicide.
In Tumbler Ridge, the impact was immediate and personal.
Mayor Darryl Krakowka spoke about the loss in a town he described as close-knit.
“I broke down,” he said, calling it “devastating” in what he referred to as a “big family.”
“I have lived here for 18 years,” Krakowka said, “I probably know every one of the victims.”
At a recreation center, families gathered awaiting confirmation about loved ones. The Rev. George Rowe of the Tumbler Ridge Fellowship Baptist Church described the uncertainty.
“It was not a pretty sight. Families are still waiting to hear if it’s their child that’s deceased, and because of protocol and procedure, the investigating team is very careful in releasing names,” Rowe said. “The big thing tonight was my having to walk away, and the families still waiting to find out. It is so difficult. Other pastors and counselors are there, so they are not alone.”
Rowe, who once taught at the high school and whose three children graduated from it, reflected on what the building now represents.
“To walk through the corridors of that school will never be the same again,” he said.
Prime Minister Mark Carney responded in statements on social media.
“I am devastated by today’s horrific shootings in Tumbler Ridge, B.C. My prayers and deepest condolences are with the families and friends who have lost loved ones to these horrific acts of violence,” he said.
In a separate message, he added: “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.”
Carney’s office said he was suspending a planned trip to Halifax, Nova Scotia, and Munich, Germany.
Eby said he had spoken with the prime minister 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.”
