Police received a report at 1.20 pm local time (10.20 am ET) Tuesday of an active school shooter at the Tumbler Ridge Secondary School. Within minutes, officers were on the scene.
At around 1.30 pm, alarms began to sound in the school, announcing a lockdown and ordering that classroom doors be closed. A student said he and his classmates used tables to barricade themselves in.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) soon issued a “shelter in place” warning, telling Tumbler Ridge residents to lock their doors and stay inside until further instruction. The RCMP said a suspect had been found dead, but that its officers were working to determine whether a second suspect was involved.
As well as the suspect, police later said that at least nine people were confirmed dead. Six were found dead when police arrived at the school, and another person died en route to hospital. The alleged shooter is believed to have killed two more people, whose bodies were discovered at a home in the township.
At 5.45 pm, police called off the emergency alert, saying they did not believe there were any outstanding suspects “or ongoing threat to the public.” Police said the alleged shooter was found “deceased with what appears to be a self-inflicted injury.” Around 25 others were wounded, they said.
Later, at a press conference, Superintendent Ken Floyd, the North District Commander of the British Columbia RCMP said the force was not yet able to say “what may have motivated this strategy.”
