“What happened has plunged our nation into shock and us all into grief,” added Mark Carney
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney called the massacre that occurred on Tuesday at a secondary school in a remote region of the west of the country an act of “unprecedented cruelty” and resulted in nine deaths, including children.
“Yesterday morning [terça-feira]Tumbler Ridge parents sent their children to school; some will never be able to hug them again”, declared, with a choked voice, the head of government before Parliament, which held a minute’s silence for the victims this Wednesday.
“What happened has plunged our nation into shock and us all into grief,” Carney added.
Canada is in “mourning” after the massacre that left nine dead in a small isolated town in the west of the country, where a person opened fire in a high school.
“We will overcome this ordeal. We will learn from it”, assured the Prime Minister, appealing to Canadians to “unite” in a country in shock, unaccustomed to massacres of this type, unlike the neighboring country, the United States.
Flags on government buildings will be flown at half-mast for a week.
The attack took place in Tumbler Ridge, a small, isolated town of about 2,300 people at the base of the Rocky Mountains in the province of British Columbia, several hours’ drive from any urban center.
According to the first “alert” sent to residents on Tuesday by the police, the suspect was described as “a dark-skinned woman in a dress.”
But authorities have not confirmed. The suspect, whose gender is subject to speculation, died from “a self-inflicted wound,” according to police.
Ken Floyd, a Canadian police officer, remained cautious but indicated that the shooter was indeed the person mentioned in the alert.
Twenty-seven people were also injured, two of which were seriously injured, according to the Royal Canadian Gendarmerie.
Nina Krieger, the province’s Minister of Public Security, referred to “one of the worst mass killings in the history” of Canada.
“Let’s get together and try to listen to those who want to speak out” in the wake of this “great tragedy,” Darryl Krakowka, the mayor of Tumbler Ridge, told public broadcaster CBC.
Mark Carney does not plan to go to the site, but the Canadian Minister of Public Safety, Gary Anandasangaree and the province’s premier, David Eby, will visit the site this Wednesday.
The British royal family declared it was “deeply shocked and saddened” by this tragedy, in a statement from King Charles III, also Head of State of Canada.
“The horror has struck (…). Condolences to the families of the victims, to the injured and to the entire educational community. France stands alongside Canadians”, said French President Emmanuel Macron on the social network X.
This is the second massacre in Canada in less than a year.
In April 2025, a man killed 11 people in Vancouver when he drove his truck into a crowd celebrating a Philippine cultural festival.
This type of attack is exceptional in Canadian schools. It takes place in a city in Minas Gerais known for its nature tourism, close to mountains and a geological park.
Darian Quist, a student at the school, explained to CBC that he was in a mechanics class when they announced the attack on the school. “We took tables and barricaded the doors for more than two hours” until the police arrived, he reported.
The first alert, in the early afternoon, concerned a shooter at the school.
When authorities arrived at the scene they initially discovered six bodies, not including the suspect. A seventh person with gunshot wounds died during transport to the hospital. Later, the police “identified a second location (…) related to the attack, where two more dead victims were found.
