Carney says Canada ‘mourns’ with Tumbler Ridge after mass shooting
Emotional Canadian PM ordered flags at half-staff for seven days after a female shooter killed nine at a school and nearby home in British Columbia
Canadians were in shock on Wednesday after one of the country’s deadliest mass shootings as authorities said seven people were killed at a school in remote northern British Columbia and two others were killed at a nearby home. A woman that police believed was the shooter was found dead, apparently from a self-inflicted wound.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) said more than 25 people were wounded in Tuesday’s shooting, including two who were airlifted for medical care with life-threatening injuries.
Tumbler Ridge in the Canadian Rockies is more than 1,000km (600 miles) northeast of Vancouver, near the provincial border with Alberta. The provincial government website lists Tumbler Ridge Secondary School as having 175 students from grades 7 to 12.
“Parents, grandparents, sisters, brothers in Tumbler Ridge will wake up without someone they love. The nation mourns with you and Canada stands by you,” an emotional Prime Minister Mark Carney said as he arrived in parliament.
A visibly upset Carney on Wednesday promised Canadians would get through what he called a “terrible” mass shooting.
“We will get through this. We will learn from this,” Carney told reporters, at one point looking close to tears.