Eight persons were killed in a shooting at a school in Canada’s British Columbia on Tuesday, AP quoted the authorities as saying.

Two more persons were found dead at a home the authorities suspect was connected to the attack, the news agency reported.

Among those found dead at the Tumbler Ridge Secondary School was a woman whom police suspect to be the shooter, AP reported.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said that around 25 persons were injured in the shooting. Of them, two were airlifted to hospital with life-threatening injuries, AP reported.

Advertisement

The police said that they received a report of an active shooting at the school around 1.20 pm.

British Columbia Premier David Eb was quoted by AP as saying that police officers reached the school within two minutes of the shooting being reported.

Police said that seven persons were found dead at the school, including the suspect, who appeared to have died of a “self-inflicted injury”, AP reported. An eighth individual died while being taken to hospital.

Tumbler Ridge Secondary School has 175 students from Grades 7 to 12.

Advertisement

Royal Canadian Mounted Police Superintendent Ken Floyd said that investigators had identified a female suspect. He added that the motive remained unclear and that authorities were still examining how the victims were connected to the suspect, AP reported.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney expressed his condolences to the families of those who lost their lives in “these horrific acts of violence”.

“I join Canadians in grieving with those whose lives have been changed irreversibly today, and in gratitude for the courage and selflessness of the first responders who risked their lives to protect their fellow citizens,” he said in a social media post.

School shootings are rare in Canada. The Canadian government has responded to previous mass shootings with gun control measures, including a broadened ban on firearms it classifies as assault-style weapons.

Tuesday’s attack was Canada’s deadliest mass shooting since 2020, when a gunman in Nova Scotia killed 13 people and set fires that left another nine dead, AP reported.