Mass shooter 'in a dress' kills nine, injures 25 in Canada high school

A shooter killed at least nine people and injured dozens more at a secondary school and residence in Canada before taking their own life.   

Eight people were found dead, including the attacker, inside Tumbler Ridge Secondary School in British Columbia, as well as two at a connected residence.

The shooter, believed to be a woman, appeared to have died from a self inflicted gunshot wound at the scene.

A total of 27 were wounded with two people sustaining life-threatening injuries.

The attacker has not yet been named and their motive remains unclear. They were described as a 'female in a dress with brown hair', according to an emergency alert sent to phones.

As police searched the school, they found six people shot dead. A seventh person with a gunshot wound died en route to hospital

School children barricaded their classroom doors with tables as they hid from the shooter. 

Darian Quist, a grade 12 student, said he was in a mechanics class when an urgent lockdown alarm sounded in the hallways instructing them to close the doors.

At first he 'didn’t think anything was going on' but then he received 'disturbing' pictures showing the carnage at the school. 

'It set in what was happening' and for more than two hours they 'got tables and barricaded the doors,' Quist said, until police arrived to escort them out of the building, where he met up with his mother. 

Trent Ernst, a former substitute teacher at the school, said: 'There's been troubled kids here in town before'.

Tumbler Ridge town councillor Chris Norbury, whose wife teaches at the secondary school, said it was 'terrifying' when found out the school had been attacked.

He told the BBC: 'I immediately contacted my wife and found out from her that the school was in lockdown, she didn't know why.'

He said she did respond to him immediately when he asked if she was safe.

'It was terrifying, it's hard to put into words the dread and the fear that you feel knowing that a loved one is in danger.'

Police found two more bodies at a residence in Tumbler Ridge in what is believed to be a 'connected incident'. 

Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Superintendent Ken Floyd said: 'I think we will struggle to determine the "why", but we will try our best to determine what transpired.

He did confirm if the suspect found dead at the school is the same person described as a woman in a dress with brown hair an the active shooter alert sent out on Tuesday.

Police have not yet released any information about the age of the shooter or the victims. 

'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,' they said.

In a statement, the District of Tumbler Ridge: 'Our hearts are with all those affected, and we recognize that many residents may be feeling shocked, scared, and overwhelmed.'

Tumbler Ridge secondary school, which enrolls 175 students, and the elementary school, will be closed for the rest of the week.

Tumbler Ridge, a picturesque mountain valley town in the foothills of the Rockies about 736 miles north of Vancouver, has a population of 2,400.

It is described as an 'incredibly safe community' by councillor Norbury.

He added: 'We don't lock our doors here. We have three police vehicles in our town, we are very small. We are a small community. We know each other, we all know the victims. They are our friends, our friends' children.'

The mayor of Tumbler Ridge, Darryl Krakowka, told CBC: 'I will know every victim. I've been here 19 years, and we're a small community. I don't call them residents. I call them family.'

An emergency alert asking the public to shelter in place was lifted at 5.45pm local time.

The Daily Mail has reached out to the RCMP and Tumbler Ridge Secondary School for comment.

Prime Minister Mark Carney, who cancelled his trip to the Munich Security Conference, said: '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.

'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. 

'Our ability to come together in crisis is the best of our country — our empathy, our unity, and our compassion for each other.' 

'I have connected with Premier Eby to express my condolences, and with the Minister of Public Safety, Gary Anandasangaree, who is coordinating the federal response.'

'Our officials are in close contact with their counterparts to ensure the community is fully supported as best we can. The Government of Canada stands with all British Columbians as they confront this horrible tragedy.'

David Eby, the Premier of British Columbia, said: 'Government will ensure every possible support for community members in the coming days, as we all try to come to terms with this unimaginable tragedy.

'This is something that will reverberate for years to come.'

Eby appeared stunned when asked during a news conference what he'd say to parents afraid to send their children to school.

'This is the kind of thing that feels like it happens in other places, and not close to home in a way that this feels like for many British Columbians and Canadians,' he said. 

The education ministry staff is sending trauma-informed counsellors to the area to support kids and their families.

Pastor George Rowe from the Tumbler Ridge Fellowship Baptist Church said he encountered very 'difficult' scenes when visiting a centre where families were waiting for news.

He said: '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.

'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 counsellors are there so they are not alone.'

Mass shootings are extremely rare in Canada, but 11 people were killed in Vancouver in April during a vehicle attack that targeted a Filipino cultural festival.