Ten people, including the shooter, were killed after an assailant opened fire at a high school in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia. Police described the shooter as female, and said the incident resembles the type of mass shooting more often seen in the United States.

Six victims were found dead inside the high school. Two more were discovered at a residence believed to be connected to the attack, while another person died on the way to hospital, according to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

Authorities have launched a full investigation into the incident, and the community remains in shock after one of Canada’s deadliest mass casualty events in recent history.

This attack highlights the rare but devastating occurrence of mass shootings in Canada. Authorities are working to understand the shooter’s motives. Communities may now push for stricter safety measures in schools.

At least two other people were hospitalized with serious or life-threatening wounds, and as many as 25 people were being treated for non-life-threatening injuries, police said.

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Police did not say how many of the victims may have been minors. Parents gathered in a local community center as they waited to learn the fate of their children.

"It was a situation that you really never want to face again ... the sight of what I saw was devastating, many parents just waiting for the news on whether their child had survived the shooting or not," said local pastor George Rowe.

Police would only identify victims when they had "absolute, unequivocal identification," he told CBC News on Wednesday.

SUSPECTED SHOOTER ALSO FOUND DEAD

A suspected shooter was also found dead from what appeared to be a self‑inflicted injury, police said, adding they did not believe there were any more suspects or ongoing threat.

"It's hard to know what to say on a night like tonight. It's the kind of thing that feels like it happens in other places and not close to home," British Columbia Premier David Eby told reporters.

Police released almost no details about the shooter except to say the person was described as female - potentially an unusual development as mass shootings in North America are almost always carried out by men.

Darian Quist, a 17-year-old student at the school, said his class had been locked down for more than two hours starting at about 1.30 pm local time. Although he heard nothing, other pupils later shared photos of scenes where blood could be seen, he told CBC News.

A police active shooter alert said the suspect was described "as female in a dress with brown hair". Police Superintendent Ken Floyd later confirmed that the suspect described in the alert was the same person found dead in the school.

Item 1 of 3 Vehicles are parked outside the Tumbler Ridge Secondary School, the site of a deadly mass shooting in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, Canada, February 10, 2026, in this screengrab obtained from a social media video. Trent Ernst/Tumbler RidgeLines/via REUTERS

Canada has stricter gun laws than the United States, but Canadians can own firearms with a license.

The Trudeau government introduced a number of restrictions on handgun ownership and assault-style weapons since 2020, partly in response to a mass shooting in Nova Scotia and the Uvalde school shooting in Texas.

However, attempts to ban certain types of rifles and shotguns were abandoned after opposition from farmers and hunters.

Tumbler Ridge, the scene of the shooting, is a remote municipality with a population of around 2,400 people in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains in northern British Columbia, approximately 1,155 km (717 miles) northeast of Vancouver. Images of the town show a snow-covered landscape filled with pine trees.

Tumbler Ridge Secondary School has 160 students in grades seven through 12, roughly ages 12 to 18, according to its website. The school was closed for the rest of the week and counseling will be made available to those in need, school officials said.

Officials said the town's small police force was on the scene within two minutes of receiving a call, and that victims were still being assessed hours after the incident.

"This is a small, tight-knit community with a small RCMP detachment as well, who responded in two minutes, no doubt saving lives today," Nina Krieger, British Columbia's public safety minister, told reporters.

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 rampage in the Atlantic province of Nova Scotia, before police killed him at a gas station about 90 km (60 miles) from the site of his first killings.

In Canada's worst school shooting, in December 1989, a gunman killed 14 female students and wounded 13 at the Ecole Polytechnique in Montreal, before committing suicide.

In response to the shooting, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney postponed a planned announcement in Halifax on Wednesday of a new Defence Industrial Strategy and subsequent trip to Germany for the Munich Security Conference, a spokesperson said.

"I am devastated by today’s horrific shootings in Tumbler Ridge, B.C. My prayers and deepest condolences are with the families and friends who have lost loved ones to these horrific acts of violence," Carney said on X.