Canada launched major gun reforms in 2020 after its deadliest mass shooting.

PinnedHere’s the latest.A shooter killed nine people and injured 25 on Tuesday at a high school and a residence in Tumbler Ridge, a remote community in British Columbia, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said.A person believed to be the shooter was also found dead in the school from what appeared to be a self-inflicted injury, said Superintendent Ken Floyd, North District commander of the British Columbia Royal Canadian Mounted Police.Responding to a call at about 1:20 p.m. local time, officers found six people dead in the high school, the police said, and another person died while being transported to a hospital. Two other people were found dead in a local residence, which the police believed to be connected to the school shooting.Officers were searching additional homes and properties in the area for other people who may be injured or connected to the shootings, the police said in a statement.Superintendent Floyd said in a news briefing that the police had not yet determined the shooter’s motive. He declined to identify the shooter or provide any age. He confirmed that the shooter was the same person as the suspect mentioned in a police alert to the community earlier in the day. That alert described the suspect as a “female in a dress with brown hair.”The authorities reported that the other injuries were not deemed life-threatening. The police were still reaching out to the victims’ families, Premier David Eby of British Columbia said in a news briefing on Tuesday. He said that the threat to the community was over.A shelter-in-place order was issued shortly after the police received the first report of an active shooter. The order was dropped at 5:45 p.m., according to the police.Nina Krieger, the public safety minister of British Columbia, said in a news briefing that the incident was “one of the worst mass shootings in our province’s and country’s history.”Both Tumbler Ridge Secondary School, where the shooting occurred, and Tumbler Ridge Elementary School will be closed for the rest of the week, the school district said on Tuesday night. Northern Lights College, which operates a campus at the secondary school, also said it would be closed for the week.Here’s what else to know:Remote community: Tumbler Ridge, where about 2,400 people live, was originally established as a coal-mining town in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains in northeastern British Columbia, according to the town’s website.2025 attack: Mass homicides are rare in Canada, but the attack on Tuesday was the second in British Columbia in under a year. In April 2025, 11 people were killed in Vancouver when a man drove his S.U.V. into a crowd celebrating a Filipino heritage festival.Rylee Kirk, Vjosa Isai and Pranav Baskar contributed reporting.ImageA makeshift memorial in Portapique, Nova Scotia, for the victims of Canada’s deadliest mass shooting in 2020.Credit...Tim Krochak/ReutersThe deadly shootings in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, on Tuesday came as Canada’s federal government faces hurdles in a national gun buyback program that has proved politically unpopular and a logistical quagmire.The country’s deadliest mass shooting, in Nova Scotia, precipitated the creation of the program after 23 people, including the attacker, died in April 2020.Days after that attack, Justin Trudeau, the prime minister at the time, announced a ban on 1,500 types of assault-style weapons. In the subsequent years, the federal government has gradually widened its gun reform project, announcing a freeze on handgun sales and expanding the list of firearms covered under the initial ban.The police have not released any information about the firearms used in the Tumbler Ridge shootings on Tuesday, or how the suspected shooter came to obtain them.By far the most contentious part of Canada’s firearms reform has been a multimillion-dollar gun buyback program targeting owners of “military-style assault rifles,” which include a wide range of long guns and rifles, like those used to hunt animals.The gun buyback has been a politically divisive issue in Canada, where firearm ownership is already strictly regulated.Handguns are the most common type of firearm used in crimes, according to federal data. In cities with higher rates of gun violence, the vast majority of firearms linked to crimes are traced back to the United States.Gun owners and lobby groups have criticized the buyback for putting an undue emphasis on rifles, which are an essential part of life in many rural areas. They are common on Indigenous reserves where the hunting of animals like caribou and moose are an important source of food and community engagement.Some of the critics come from within Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberal government. Gary Anandasangaree, Canada’s public safety minister, was heard in September last year criticizing the program in a leaked audio recording, in which he said the police do not have enough resources to enforce the buyback.Several police forces and the national postal service have refused to participate in collecting firearms under the buyback, citing either safety concerns or staffing constraints.There are roughly 1.3 million registered firearms in Canada, according to federal police data.ImageCredit...The New York TimesWhen asked about the limited capacity at Tumbler Ridge’s local medical center, where the 25 injured people were assessed, David Eby, the premier of British Columbia, acknowledged that it was a “small center.” Eby said that Alberta, the neighboring province, offered to provide medical services, including air ambulance, but did not say whether they were used.ImageCredit...CTV NewsTumbler Ridge is a small, remote town surrounded by wilderness.ImageA screenshot from a video showing the school building where a shooting took place in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, on Tuesday.Credit...Trent Ernst/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesTumbler Ridge, the remote British Columbia town where a shooter killed 9 people on Tuesday at a school and residence before dying of a self-inflicted injury, has a population of about 2,400 people and lies near the border with Alberta.The town sits at the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, in the province’s northeast, and is surrounded by expansive mountain ranges and a geological park recognized by UNESCO, the United Nations cultural agency. It is so remote that cellphone service cuts out about 30 seconds into a car ride out of town, said Danielle Roscher, the owner of a local outdoor tour company.Against that backdrop, the attacks that unfolded on Tuesday are even more unsettling, she said. “It just doesn’t even seem real.”Tumbler Ridge Secondary School, where the shooting occurred, has 160 to 175 students, according to the websites for the school district and provincial government. Because of the school’s small size, there is a “tremendous sense of community” between staff and students, the district’s website said.In addition to the secondary school, the town has just one elementary school and one college, according to the town’s official website.Tumbler Ridge was once a mining hub, home to two major mines that shut down in 2000 and 2003. Later, officials began a marketing campaign encouraging people to relocate to Tumbler Ridge for its affordable housing and proximity to nature. Now, the town is known for its outdoor tourism.Most of the province of British Columbia is policed by federal officers because rural towns like Tumbler Ridge are not populous enough to have their own municipal police forces.Prime Minister Mark Carney’s office said he would postpone an announcement and planned travel this week because of the shooting in British Columbia. Carney was scheduled to travel to Germany on Wednesday to attend the Munich Security Conference.Shawna RicherThe shooting in Tumbler Ridge is the third deadliest mass shooting in Canada, along with a 1996 shooting in Vernon, British Columbia, that resulted in 10 deaths. The only deadlier shootings include one in 1989, when a gunman entered an engineering class at Montreal’s École Polytechnique, killing 14 women. The suspect, Marc Lépine, killed himself. In 2020, Gabriel Wortman killed 22 people across northern Nova Scotia before he was shot and killed by police.ImageCredit...John Morris/ReutersThe Tumbler Ridge Health Center, where the 25 injured were assessed, was placed on restricted access and advised people to delay any nonurgent visits earlier on Tuesday because of police activity in the area, the center’s operator, Northern Health, said on social media. The center said it will return to normal operations on Wednesday at 9 a.m. local time.Tumbler Ridge is so remote that a 30-second car ride out of town means no more cellphone service, said Danielle Roscher, the owner of a local outdoor tour company. “It is a pretty sleepy little place, but as soon as you get into the mountains, it’s amazing,” she said. “You could explore for an entire lifetime and never see everything.” Against that backdrop, the attacks that unfolded on Tuesday are even more unsettling, she said. “It just doesn’t even seem real.”In a social media post, Prime Minister Mark Carney of Canada condemned the shootings as “horrific acts of violence” and said he had connected with the minister of public safety, who is coordinating the federal response. “I join Canadians in grieving with those whose lives have been changed irreversibly today,” Carney said, and in gratitude for the courage and selflessness of the first responders who risked their lives to protect their fellow citizens.”Tumbler Ridge Secondary School has between 160 and 175 students, according to the websites for the school district and provincial government. Because of the school’s small size, there is a “tremendous sense of community” between staff members and students, the district’s website said.Superintendent Ken Floyd of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said victims are still being triaged, and the police had “no updates” on whether the death toll could rise. “The scene was very dramatic, and there were multiple victims that are still being cared for,” he said. ImageCredit...via ReutersDavid Eby, the premier of British Columbia, said in a post on social media that the government would provide support for community members as they tried to “come to terms with this unimaginable tragedy.”“Our hearts are in Tumbler Ridge tonight with the families of those who have lost loved ones,” he said.Superintendent Ken Floyd of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police confirmed the shooter was the suspect described in a police alert to the community earlier in the day. The alert described the suspect as a “female in a dress with brown hair.” Larry Neufeld, who represents Tumbler Ridge in British Columbia’s legislative assembly, thanked emergency responders for their “swift and professional response.” In a social media post, he asked the public to remain patient as the authorities investigated and to reach out for support if they were struggling.“My thoughts are with the students, families, educators, and the entire Tumbler Ridge community,” he said. “This is a small, close-knit town, and the impact of an event like this is felt by everyone.”Northern Lights College, which serves upper British Colombia, said on social media that its Tumbler Ridge location, in the northeast wing of Tumbler Ridge Secondary School, would be closed for the rest of the week.The police are investigating the motive of the shooter and the shooter’s connection to the school, Superintendent Ken Floyd of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said.The shooting at the school and and the residence are believed to be connected, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police representative said, adding that the nature of the connection was still being investigated. Mass homicides are rare in Canada, but Tuesday’s attack was the second in British Columbia in under a year. In April 2025, 11 people were killed in Vancouver when a man drove his S.U.V. into a crowd celebrating a Filipino heritage festival.The district where the school is located announced on its website that Tumbler Ridge Secondary School and Tumbler Ridge Elementary School would be closed for the rest of the week. The district said it would share more information about support for students and staff on social media.At a news conference, a representative of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said that the authorities believed they had identified the shooter but were not publicly releasing that information. They are also not releasing information about the ages of the victims yet, he said.The shooting took place in Tumbler Ridge, a town of about 2,400 people in eastern British Columbia, near the border with Alberta. The town is known for its outdoor tourism, including expansive mountain ranges and a UNESCO recognized geological park. Most of the province is policed by federal officers because rural towns, like Tumbler Ridge, are not populous enough to have their own municipal police forces.