Person in Dress Suspected in Horrific School, Home Shootings in Canada that Left 9 Dead, 25 Hurt

Ten people were killed, including the suspected female gunman, during a mass shooting inside a high school and a residence in a remote northeastern British Columbia town on Tuesday afternoon, according to authorities. 

Six people were found dead inside Tumbler Ridge Secondary School, and two more were found dead at a residence believed to be connected to the mass shooting. Another person died en route to the hospital, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said.

The suspect, who was described in a local active shooter alert as a person in a dress with brown hair, was found dead from what appears to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound, cops added. 

Authorities said 25 other people are being assessed for injuries at a local medical center. 

“Multiple injuries and multiple deceased were inside the school as officers progressed through the scene,” police superintendent Ken Floyd said during a news conference.

“We have the scene secured right now. We have investigators there to try to determine the nature of the extent of the injuries and what weapons may or may not have been involved,” Floyd said.

Police have identified the shooter, but didn’t publicly release their identity due to the integrity of the investigation. Floyd also said cops would not be commenting on a possible motive in the massacre, the Guardian reported. 

“We’re following all leads to try to determine the connection to the shooter,” Floyd said, according to the outlet. “I think we will struggle to determine the ‘why,’ but we will try our best to determine what transpired.”

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Students from grades 7 through 12 attend Tumbler Ridge Secondary School. The secondary and elementary schools in the remote area will remain closed for the rest of the week, the outlet added.

Tumbler Ridge is a quaint municipality of less than 2,500 people in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. 

Despite little information from authorities, the mass shooting would rank as one of the deadliest in Canadian history. In 1989, a gunman killed 14 students at L’Ecole Polytechnique in Montreal.

The country has implemented strong gun control measures in response to mass shootings, including recently broadening a ban on guns considered to be assault weapons. 

“All our thoughts are with people in Tumbler Ridge. I’ve spoken to the mayor and local MLA [member of the Legislative Assembly], and we are offering the RCMP any additional assistance they need,” British Columbia’s Public Safety Minister Nina Krieger said in a statement on X.