Canada school shooting latest: Nine killed and dozens injured in one of country’s worst mass shootings

A cafe nextdoor to Tumbler Ridge Secondary School will be closed on Wednesday to support the “shocked and grieving” local community.

Twisted Seasons Bistro, which is metres away from where the shooting took place, addressed the residents of Tumbler Ridge in a post on Facebook.

“TR [Tumbler Ridge] is home, the people here are more than friends and neighbors, they are FAMILY, and what happened here today has left us all shocked and grieving,” it wrote.

“We will not be open tomorrow, so that we can support our families through this. You are not alone….. reach out if you need help.”

Arianna Bazinet, a local resident, saw police cars speeding into town on Tuesday and soon received the emergency alert from the authorities regarding the mass shooting.

“I immediately sent it to my mom and said, ‘Hey, stay in the house, don’t go anywhere,’” Ms Bazinet was quoted as saying by The Globe and Mail.

“We had no idea that it had actually started when kids went back to school at lunchtime.”

She said one of her friend’s sisters was still missing on Tuesday evening. “They can’t find her, and it’s just horrible. We’re hoping to hear good news. We’re praying for good news, but we can only hope.”

Tumbler Ridge mayor Darryl Krakowka said the whole community was grieving after the “tragic day” for Tumbler Ridge.

“I broke down,” he said. “It’s devastating.”

“I have lived here for 18 years,” he said.

The community is a “big family”, he said. “I probably know every one of the victims.”

A local councillor at Tumbler Ridge, Chris Norbury, described Tuesday’s events as an “unbelievable tragedy that our community has to live through”.

He told Globe and Mail: “It’ll take a very long time for us to heal.

“The first responders, I can only imagine how they feel, having to see children that they know, fearful that have lost their lives.

“Multiple people have died,” he said.

“We all know them. And they were friends. And their parents were our friends.”

A student at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School told CBC News that the community should “hold each other close”.

At least nine were killed – including six at the secondary school – in a mass shooting at multiple locations in Tumbler Ridge on Tuesday.

“The reality of it all is starting to set in,” Darian Quist, a Grade 12 student, said.

He said the situation is “almost surreal”.

“It felt like I was somewhere that I had only seen across a TV.”

• Police received reports of an active shooter at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School at about 1.20pm on Tuesday.
• An emergency alert told residents to stay inside and avoid the area while officers responded.
• 10 people have died, including the suspect.
• Six victims were found inside the school, one died while being taken to the hospital, and two others were found dead at a separate residence linked to the incident.
• About 25 people were injured, with several suffering serious or life-threatening wounds.
• Police say the suspected shooter was found dead with what appears to be a “self-inflicted” injury.
• Early alerts described the suspect as a woman, though officials have released few confirmed details publicly.
• Officers entered the building to locate the threat and discovered multiple victims.
• Students and staff were safely evacuated and reunited with their families afterwards.
• Investigators identified a residence connected to the attack, where two more victims were located.
• Police are searching properties to understand whether anyone else is involved.
• Motive is still unclear as police say they might never know what it was.

Darian Quist, a Grade 12 student at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School, and his mother Shelley Quist described the horrific moments during the lockdown and how the students “barricaded the doors” as school went into lockdown.

Darian said he had just arrived in class around 1.30pm local time when an alarm sounded, instructing students to shut doors as the school went into lockdown, CBC News reported.

As time passed, he and his classmates realised the situation was serious, especially as images from the scene began circulating on their phones.

“We got tables and barricaded the doors,” he said, explaining that students remained inside for more than two hours until police officers arrived and escorted them out.

After leaving the building, Darian reunited with his mother at a nearby community centre a few hundred metres from the school.

According to Supt Ken Floyd, North District Commander, police have identified the shooter but are still working to determine the motive.

The weapons used by the shooter have also not been revealed yet.

The police have not made the identities of the 9 victims public.

“For privacy reasons and obviously for the conduct of the investigation, we’re not releasing that information at this time,” Floyd told a press conference on Tuesday evening.

He also did not mention if the shooter was connected to the school or the home where the victims were found.

“We’re still working towards that. Again, it wouldn’t be fair to speculate,” he said.

“We’re following all leads to try and determine the connection to the shooter.

“I think we will struggle to determine the why but we’re going to try and do our best to determine what transpired that day and what led up to this tragic event in Tumbler Ridge and across our communities.”

Local officials have announced that both Tumbler Ridge Secondary School and Tumbler Ridge Elementary School will remain closed for the rest of the week, according to an update shared on the district’s website.

Nine people were killed in the mass shooting at the school and a home on Tuesday in Tumbler Ridge in British Columbia.

The suspected shooter was also found dead with what police described as a “self-inflicted wound”.

Police said in a statement: “Work continues to determine whether a second suspect was involved and the total number of victims involved.”