A shooting at a high school in the town of Tumbler Ridge in Canada’s British Columbia province has left 10 people dead.
According to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, six of the victims were found inside the school building. Another person died while being transported to hospital. Two more victims were discovered in a residential home that police believe is connected to the incident. The tenth person killed was the shooter—whose body was found with what police described as a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
In addition, two injured people were taken to hospital with serious or life-threatening injuries. About 100 students and staff members were evacuated from the school building.
Authorities have so far released no detailed information about the identity of the shooter. In an emergency alert sent to residents, police initially described the suspect as “a woman with chestnut-colored hair.” However, Staff Sergeant Chris Clark later told CBC that law enforcement currently has no confirmed information regarding the suspect’s identity, age, or other characteristics.
Canada’s Prime Minister, Mark Carney, said he was “devastated by today’s horrific shooting” and offered his condolences to the families and loved ones of those killed.
According to CBC, the attack was the second-deadliest mass shooting in the country’s history. A higher death toll was recorded only on December 6, 1989, at Montreal’s École Polytechnique, where 14 people were killed. Another deadly incident occurred on January 22, 2016, at a school in the village of La Loche in Saskatchewan—five people were killed.