Canadian police have identified the person who killed eight people as 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar, but they did not give a motive for one of the worst mass shootings in Canada's history.
Van Rootselaar, who was born male but began identifying as a female six years ago, killed her mother and stepbrother before attacking her former school, and later taking her own life, police said.
Police revised the death toll down to nine, including Van Rootselaar, from the initially reported ten.
On more than one occasion, Van Rootselaar had been detained under mental health laws for an assessment, said Deputy Commissioner Dwayne McDonald, commander of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in British Columbia.
"Police had attended that (family) residence on multiple occasions over the past several years, dealing with concerns of mental health with respect to our suspect," Mr McDonald said.
Unlike the United States, school shootings are almost unheard of in Canada.
Hundreds of people gathered in the town's main square last night, lighting candles for victims.
When the ceremony ended and a bitter cold set in, mourners brought their candles to the base of a large tree, where photos of some of the victims were laid.
Several people sobbed, with one teenage girl repeatedly saying "it's not fair," as she cried.
"We will get through this. We will learn from this," a visibly upset Prime Minister Mark Carney told reporters.
He postponed a trip to Europe and ordered flags on all government buildings be flown at half-mast for the next seven days.
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Hours later, legislators in the House of Commons observed a moment of silence and listened as Mr Carney said the killings had left the country in shock and mourning.
"Tumbler Ridge represents the very best of Canada," Mr Carney said.
Tumbler Ridge mayor Darryl Krakowka told reporters last night that the close-knit community was "one big family."
"Lend your ear when someone needs your ear," he said, becoming emotional at times. "Lend your shoulder when someone needs your shoulder. Give somebody a hug."
"Schools should be safe," said local resident Gigi Rejano who called for the entrance of the school building to be guarded from now on.
Mr Krakowka acknowledged the shock of learning that the local school was targeted.
"That's where children are supposed to go and learn and be safe and be with peers and grow into adults," he said.
Video captures students running from Canada school after mass shooting
Mr McDonald said Van Rootselaar had first killed her mother, 39, and 11-year-old stepbrother at the family home.
She then went to the school, where she shot a 39-year-old female teacher as well as three 12-year-old girls and two boys, one aged 12 and one aged 13.
Police recovered a long gun and a modified handgun.
Dozens were injured, and two severely wounded victims remain in the hospital.
One of those victims, a 12-year-old girl named Maya, was fighting for her life after sustaining gunshot wounds to the head and neck, her mother, Cia Edmonds, said in a Facebook post.
Maya's aunt Krystal Hunt told CBC that her niece "tried to lock the door of the library from the shooter to save the other kids," before being wounded.
Deputy Commissioner Dwayne McDonald confirmed the identity of the shooter
Police officers who arrived at the scene two minutes after the initial call encountered active gunfire, including rounds fired in their direction, according to authorities, before discovering Van Rootselaar dead from an apparent self-inflicted wound.
She once attended the school but dropped out four years ago, police said.
"We do believe the suspect acted alone ... it would be too early to speculate on motive," Mr McDonald told a press conference, saying police did not have information to suggest anyone had been specifically targeted.
Several prominent world leaders sent messages of condolence. Britain's King Charles, Canada's head of state, said he was "profoundly shocked and saddened."
The attack sent shockwaves through the tiny community.
"Everybody knows everybody," Jordon Kosik, a resident, said in an interview. "People don't lock their homes. They don't lock their cars. You can just go to your neighbour's house, just walk right in."
Mr McDonald said police had seized firearms from the family residence about two years ago but returned them after the owner, who he did not identify, successfully appealed the decision.
Canada has stricter gun laws than the United States, but Canadians can own firearms with a licence.
Van Rootselaar previously had a firearms licence, but it expired in 2024. Canadians between the ages of 12 and 17 can obtain a minor's firearms licence after taking a firearms safety course and passing tests.
British Columbia Premier David Eby said the process has begun of "reaching out to" the public health care system to "understand what interactions may have taken place."
"I have a lot of questions. I know the people of Tumbler Ridge have a lot of questions," Mr Eby said, adding officials want to do "all we can" to "prevent tragedies like this from happening again."
The shooting ranks among the deadliest in Canadian history.
In April 2020, a 51-year-old man disguised in a police uniform and driving a fake police car shot and killed 22 people in a 13-hour attack in the Atlantic province of Nova Scotia, before police killed him at a petrol station.
In December 1989, a gunman killed 14 female students and wounded 13 at the Ecole Polytechnique in Montreal, Quebec, before dying by suicide.
