9 Killed, 25 Injured in Mass Shooting in Tumbler Ridge, B.C.
By CBC News
6 victims, 1 suspect found dead inside local high school; student says classmates hid in barricaded room
The Latest
- Nine people have been killed in a mass shooting in the rural community of Tumbler Ridge, B.C.
- Six people were found dead inside Tumbler Ridge Secondary School, one died on the way to the hospital and two more were found dead inside a home.
- A Grade 12 student at the school said he and his classmates were locked down for more than two hours behind barricaded doors: “It felt like I was somewhere that I had only seen across a TV.”
- Police said the suspect was also found dead inside the school from “a self-inflicted injury.”
- Officers believe they have identified the shooter, but said they will “struggle” to ever determine a motive for what has become one of the deadliest school shootings in Canadian history.
1 hour ago
Tumbler Ridge Grade 12 student describes being barricaded in classroom
Jess Chin
Darian Quist, a Grade 12 student at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School, and his mother Shelley Quist, spoke to CBC Radio West host Sarah Penton about what happened.
Darian said shortly after he got to his class at 1:30 p.m. local time, an alarm sounded in the hallways with instructions to close the doors because of a lockdown.
He said the doors were closed for a while, when he and his classmates realized something was wrong.
He said he was receiving photos on his phone from the scene.
“We got tables and barricaded the doors” for over two hours, he said, until police arrived to escort them out of the school.
Once outside, he met up with his mother at the community centre a few hundred metres away.
Updates:
19 minutes ago – Akshay Kulkarni
In a statement sent to CBC News, the chair of the parent advisory council (PAC) for Tumbler Ridge Elementary and Tumbler Ridge Secondary urged families to check in with their kids after the shooting.
Nicole Noksana also said that the community should rely on official information and respect the privacy of those affected as more details emerged.
“There are no words that can ease the fear and pain that events like this cause in a school community,” she wrote.
1 hour ago
‘Hold each other close,’ student says
Jess Chin
Darian said Tumbler Ridge, which has students from Grades 7 to 12, is a small school. He estimates there are only about 20 or so students in his graduating class.
“The reality of it all is starting to set in,” he said. “I believe I knew somebody, but everything is still very fresh.”
Darian said the school issued a statement saying it would be working with the RCMP to help students reintegrate once school resumes. He said the situation is “almost surreal.”
“It felt like I was somewhere that I had only seen across a TV.”
Asked if he had anything to say to the community of Tumbler Ridge, Darian said people should “hold each other close.”
“We are going to be able to get through this,” he said.
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1 hour ago – Jess Chin
Shelley Quist said while she was home, she’d heard several students were being escorted out of the school.
Through her phone, she could hear police “kicking” her son’s classroom door down.
“That’s when I left home,” she said. “We live very close; a block away from the community centre. I literally almost ran over there.”
She said she didn’t accept that her son was OK until she actually saw him.
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1 hour ago
Mom stayed on the phone with her son during the lockdown
Jess Chin
Darian Quist’s mother Shelley said she was at work when someone asked if she knew what was happening at the high school.
From her office at the hospital, a short distance away, she could see “RCMP everywhere, fire, ambulances.” She said one of her coworkers had to stop her from running to the school herself.
“There was an RCMP crouched down in our parking lot with his gun drawn,” she said.
Shelley said that that moment was when she called Darian and told him to keep her on the phone.
She said her employer told anyone with kids to go home, since there was an ongoing active shooter situation. She said she got home and locked the door, and had stayed on the phone with Darian the whole time.
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2 hours ago
The premier’s news conference has concluded
Akshay Kulkarni
Eby wasn’t able to provide more details on some of the outstanding questions tonight.
He was asked about the age ranges of the victims and how many might have been students or teachers at the high school, and responded that the RCMP are still in the process of notifying families and relatives of the victims.
He also said he didn’t know which kind of firearm was used in the shooting. The news conference ended at 9:30 p.m. MT.
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2 hours ago
‘This is the kind of thing that feels like it happens in other places,’ premier says
Akshay Kulkarni
Eby says B.C. Emergency Health Services would be providing an update later this evening about the more than two dozen people who were injured.
When asked about what he’d say to parents afraid to send their children to school, the premier was momentarily lost for words.
“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.
He added that officials would look at the shooting, in the days and weeks to come, and see if there was anything to learn — but for tonight, the focus was on supporting families.
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2 hours ago
Akshay Kulkarni
Krieger said that education ministry staff were sending trauma-informed counsellors to the region to support kids and their families.
“Once we have locations for where these supports will be, the [school] district will share that information on social media,” she said.
She said that psychiatric liaison nurses would be working through the night in Tumbler Ridge to help members of the community.
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2 hours ago
Akshay Kulkarni
Krieger said there are no words to describe the pain being carried tonight by parents, families and loved ones of the victims.
She says RCMP officers were on scene within two minutes of receiving the call, and that their speed saved lives.
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2 hours ago
Akshay Kulkarni
Eby says he has spoken with Carney and RCMP leadership.
The premier reiterates the numbers we know so far — that eight people are suspected to have died at the school, including the suspected shooter, who police say died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Two other victims were found at another location.
He said he wants British Columbians and Canadians to wrap the people of Tumbler Ridge with love now and in coming days.
“This is something that will reverberate for years to come,” he said.
