Pastor George Rowe, who works at the Tumbler Ridge Fellowship Church, told CBC News Wednesday that the family of the suspected shooter will need support as well and extended thoughts and prayers to them.

“The family of the person who committed this atrocity will also be going through a very, very difficult time and we need to remember them in our thoughts and prayers as well,” Rowe said.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police have not publicly identified a suspect in the shooting yet.

Darryl Krakowka, the mayor of Tumbler Ridge, will appear on CBC News Network soon to provide an update after the devastating shooting.

California Governor Gavin Newsom said Wednesday that the people of his state “stand with our neighbors in Canada in grief and solidarity” after nine people were fatally shot in a school shooting.

“Heartbroken by this horrific school shooting in British Columbia,” Newsom wrote on X.

“No community should endure this kind of violence.”

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.

A town councillor in Tumbler Ridge whose wife was held in lockdown in Tumbler Ridge school has been speaking to the press.

His wife was among those held in lockdown yesterday, he told The National.

“I’ve seen them grow up,” he said.

“We sang stories together, we read books together… I saw them everywhere. And knowing that I can’t see them anymore, that we won’t see them anymore, that their family has to live with this incredible loss… is almost unbearable.”

He added: “We’ve always come together, to stand together, to survive and I hope we can fall back on that experience”.

At least nine people have been killed in a school shooting in a picturesque, isolated town in Western Canada.

Reports from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police say that the suspect, initially described as a “female in a dress with brown hair,” has also been found dead after opening fire at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School in British Columbia on Tuesday afternoon.

The school has around 160 to 175 students, according to the district, and is considered the heart of the local community, which itself sits at the foothills of the Rocky Mountains.

Here’s everything we know:

The Canadian Olympic Committee said it is “heartbroken” by a school shooting in British Columbia that left at least seven people dead and many others wounded.

Team Canada issued a statement at the Milan Cortina Olympics on Wednesday, the morning after the deadly shooting at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School.

“We are heartbroken by the news of the horrific school shooting that occurred in British Columbia. Our thoughts are with the families who have lost loved ones, those who are injured, and the entire Tumbler Ridge community.

“Team Canada stands with everyone affected as they navigate difficult days ahead,” the statement said.

The shooting in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, is one of the deadliest mass casualty events in recent Canadian history.

Mass shootings are not common in Canada, far less so than in the United States.

Below are some of Canada’s biggest mass killing incidents:

April 2025, Vancouver, British Colombia: Eleven people were killed and dozens injured when a man with a history of mental health issues rammed an SUV through a crowd at a Filipino community festival.

September 2022, Weldon, Saskatchewan: A stabbing spree left 10 people dead and injured 18 others, spanning 13 sites across the two tiny communities of James Smith Cree Nation and Weldon in rural Saskatchewan.

April 2020, Portapique, Nova Scotia: A gunman, who at one point masqueraded as a police officer, killed at least 16 people in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia during a 12-hour rampage, in the country’s worst modern-era mass shooting.

July 2018, Toronto, Ontario: A man walked down a busy Toronto street, shooting randomly into restaurants. He killed two people and wounded 13 before turning his gun on himself.

January 2017, Quebec City, Quebec: A man opened fire during evening prayers at a mosque, killing six people and wounding five. Twelve others were treated for minor injuries.

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.”