A local pastor in the small Canadian town where nine people were killed in a mass shooting has said what happened was "beyond comprehension".
George Rowe said he does not know how the town will recover.
He said people will have different ways to mourn and some may never recover, but they will support each other and make sure everyone is taken care of.
"This is beyond comprehension," said Mr Rowe, who said he had taught in the school where the shooting occurred.
Speaking on RTÉ's Today with Claire Brock, he said an emergency alert was issued in the town yesterday afternoon, advising residents to stay inside and keep doors locked.
Six people were shot dead at Tumbler Ridge High School. A seventh person with a gunshot wound died while en route to hospital.
"'It's a school that we raised our children in. It's a school that I was teaching myself in for about eight years, and so I'm at home imagining the layout of the school where the shootings may have taken place ... so it was just an agonising couple of hours."
The pastor said Tumbler Ridge is like a village, "a beautiful, beautiful town, and why this happens ... I'm sure we'll get some answers, but the town is having a very difficult time to comprehend the whys of this tragedy.
"So we will wait and see, and in the meantime, we'll stay together, support each other, be there, and the support from across the country is absolutely phenomenal."
Mr Rowe said it was particularly hard to grasp the idea that someone local may be responsible.
"It's hard to think someone we could have just met at the post office or grocery store could be capable of something like this.
"The shock is definitely going to come. And we just do our best and work through the pain."
The pastor went to the recreation centre to meet with families once the alarm was lifted, and said it was very difficult to describe the scene and trauma there.
Mr Rowe said he did not yet know when memorial services could be held.
A total of 27 people were wounded, including two with serious injuries and 25 others who suffered non-life threatening injuries.
Separately, police found two more dead bodies at a residence in Tumbler Ridge.
Police said the suspected shooter appears to have taken their own life at the school.
