As he arrived at Parliament Hill in Ottawa a short while ago, Mark Carney was visibly emotional as he told reporters it was a “very difficult day” for Tumbler Ridge and for the nation.
Parents and grandparents, sisters and brothers in Tumbler Ridge will wake up without someone they love. The nation mourns with you. Canada stands by you.
The Canadian prime minister thanked world leaders who had reached out to him in solidarity and compassion, including King Charles, who is Canada’s head of state.
The world is with you.
The PM reiterated that the federal public safety minister and British Columbia’s premier will be visiting the community today. He thanked the emergency services, teachers, staff and residents of Tumbler Ridge for all they were doing.
Carney said he had instructed that flags across all government buildings will be flown at half-mast for the next seven days.
He went on:
We will get through this. But right now it is a time to come together, like Canadians do in these terrible situations. To support each other, to mourn together and to grow together.
You can view the clip here.
Two firearms – a long gun and a modified handgun – were found on the scene, McDonald says.
They have yet to determine the origin of these firearms and the role these played in the shootings, he adds.
Multiple victims were located throughout the school, along with approximately 25 individuals with possible injuries, he says.
More than 100 students and faculty were evacuated once it was deemed safe, he says.
Those with potential injuries were transported to triage, he says.
Two victims with significant injuries were taken to hospital by air ambulance, he adds.
The suspect has been identified as 18-year-old Jesse vanRootselaar, who McDonald says is a resident of Tumbler Ridge.
McDonald starts by reviewing the incident.
At around 1.30pm local time, the RCMP received a report of an active shooter at Tumbler Ridge secondary school.
Police from Tumbler Ridge, RCMP and surrounding detachments responded immediately, with officers arriving within two minutes.
They heard active gunfire and entered the school, he says.
Within minutes, they located the shooter, who was deceased from what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound, he says.
We’re switching over now to a police briefing from deputy commissioner Dwayne McDonald of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, who started speaking to reporters just now. It marks the first police update on the shooting since this morning.
Opposition leader Pierre Poilievre speaks next.
He says that as fathers, he and Carney know the feeling of sending children off to school to learn and play, and seeing them come home at night. He goes on:
Yesterday, as we were tucking our kids in, I got a terrible phone call.
Children, who should have been thinking about homework or hockey, were instead thrown into terror, grief and unbearable uncertainty.
Poilievre says there is now an “entire community in grief”.
That community is the best of Canada. A community of loggers and miners, hardworking people, hardy, strong, the kind of people who fight their own battles but never hesitate to help a neighbour in need. They are the backbone of this nation.
He goes on:
No parent should have to fear that their child may not return home from school. No parent should ever bury their own child.
“We have been here before,” Carney says, referencing the L’École Polytechnique massacre, the mass shooting in Nova Scotia in 2020, the Quebec City mosque shooting in 2017, the Humboldt bus crash that killed 16 people in 2018 and the La Loche shooting in Saskatchewan in 2016.
Each time it breaks us open, each time it shows us who we are.
In the days ahead, there will be “important questions” and “difficult conversations” to have, Carney says, adding: “We owe that to the victims and their families”.
But now it’s time for grieving and remembrance, he says.
“To those families who have lost loved ones, this House mourns with you,” the PM says. “To those who are recovering from injuries, this House prays for you. To the students, the teachers, the parents, every resident of Tumbler Ridge – all of Canada stands with you.”
He goes on:
May the memories of those lost be a blessing. May this community – which has shown its resilience so many times before – once again find the strength to heal.
And may this House prove worthy of what Tumbler Ridge has always been by striving to make Canada a better, kinder and safer place.
The community, Carney says, is enduring the unimaginable and Canada will never be able to fully reconcile itself with the senseless violence that tore apart of Tumbler Ridge yesterday”.
But we can seek comfort in each other, he adds.
Carney says that tragedies show “us who we are” as he praises the community of Tumbler Ridge for being an example of Canadian pride and resilience.
As this House knows, Tumbler Ridge is a community of some 2,400 people nestled in the foothills of the Rockies. It is one of the youngest towns in the great province of British Columbia, carved out of the wilderness in the 1980s, built on the promise of the resource economy and by the determination of its residents.
It’s a town of miners, teachers, construction workers, families who have built their lives there, people who have always shown up for each other there.
When the wildfires raged, people helped each other pack up and move out of harm’s way. They checked in on seniors and those living alone. They made sure that no one was left behind.
Carney says that today people woke “to a different world”. For the families and friends of victims, it’s “their first day on earth without someone they love dearly”, he says.
Some victims remain in hospital “fighting for their lives”. The investigation is ongoing and law enforcement need the time to do their work.
Parents sent their children to school one day, and will “never be able to hug their children again”, he says.
Children and teachers “bore witness to unheard of cruelty”, he goes on.
Our entire country stands with you.
On behalf of all Canadians, Carney offers prayers to the victims and those injured, and then expresses his “profound gratitude” to the first responders, healthcare staff, and teachers and school staff in Tumbler Ridge “who acted with extraordinary courage to protect the children in their care”.
In the darkest moments they showed the best of our country.
Prime minister Mark Carney is due to address the Canadian parliament shortly. We’ll bring you all the key lines from his speech here.
The Serbian embassy in Canada posted its condolences online, writing: “The embassy of the Republic of Serbia in Canada extends its deepest condolences to the families mourning the loss of their loved ones in the mass shooting in Tumbler Ridge. Our thoughts are with the people of Canada. Serbia stands with Canada, sharing your grief and sorrow.”
The Guardian
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