10 dead in Tumbler Ridge school shooting in Canada (Full Transcript)

[00:00:00] Speaker 1: In Canada at least 10 people including the suspect have been killed and dozens injured in what's being described as the country's worst mass school shooting. It happened in British Columbia in a rural town called Tumbler Ridge. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said six of those killed were found inside a high school and one person died on the way to hospital. A suspect had been found dead with what is believed to be a self-inflicted injury. A shelter-in-place alert sent during the attack identified the suspect as a female in a dress with brown hair. Officials say they know the attacker's identity but so far have not publicly revealed their name or gender. Well our North America correspondent Peter Bowes has the latest.

[00:00:46] Speaker 2: A total of 10 people are dead. This happened just after lunchtime yesterday. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said it received a report of an active shooter at a school in the small town of Tumbler Ridge, a tiny place, a population of about 2,400 people. It lies in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. There was a search of the school. They found six people dead. A seventh died on the way to hospital. More than two dozen people were told were injured. Now the authorities say another person believed to be the attacker was also found dead at the school with what appeared to be self-inflicted injuries. Officials say the shooting at the school and at a nearby home where two additional bodies were found are believed to be linked. Now the police say they don't know yet what the attacker's connection is to the school. We are getting a lot of reaction to this. The British Columbia Premier David Eby had this to say.

[00:01:47] Speaker 3: This is a devastating and unimaginable tragedy. We can't imagine what the community is going through. But I know it's causing us all to hug our kids a little bit tighter tonight. It makes us think about our kids' safety when they're going to school. We take it for granted. You go to school, you come home safe. And events like this give us pause about that safety that that many Canadians have the privilege to enjoy across this country.

[00:02:18] Speaker 2: We've also heard from the Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney who said he was devastated. He posted on X my prayers and deepest condolences with the families and friends who've lost loved ones to these horrific acts of violence. The Government of Canada stands with all British Columbians as they confront this horrible tragedy. A community lockdown that was imposed shortly after these shootings has now been cancelled because the authorities say they don't believe that there are any outstanding suspects or ongoing threats to the community.

[00:02:54] Speaker 1: The Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has suspended his planned trip to Germany following the school shooting. He was due to attend the Munich Security Conference which is usually held over a few days and is planned to host more than 60 heads of state and government. Mr Carney posted on X that he is devastated by today's horrific shootings in Tumbler Ridge. He wrote my prayers and deepest condolences are with the families and friends who have lost loved ones to these horrific acts of violence. So as we come to terms with what has happened in Canada, we can cross over to speak to Srishti Gangdev who's the Assistant News Director of 1130 News Radio. Srishti, I appreciate the country is in a state of shock because these kind of mass shootings are so rare in Canada.

[00:03:51] Speaker 4: Yeah, this this kind of thing just doesn't happen here. I can count kind of on on one hand the instances that I recall knowing about, not that have happened necessarily in my lifetime, but certainly this is a rarity and and it's something that we I don't think we're really aware of how to process here.

[00:04:10] Speaker 1: Yeah, that's absolutely understandable because when it comes to gun ownership compared to your neighbours, the USA, it's a completely different picture.

[00:04:19] Speaker 4: Yeah, it really is. When we think about the way that our neighbours south of the border view guns, we're quite a bit stricter up here. Not to say that gun ownership isn't a thing. It isn't a reality because especially in places like Tumbler Ridge, which as your reporter noted, is a very rural community. Hunting is quite, it's a it's a prominent part of the way of life, but gun ownership is still strict. There's licenses for everyone. You pretty much only are able to own hunting rifles and not the kind of assault style rifles you often hear about in cases like this in the United States. We don't know as of yet what kind of weapon was used, how many weapons were used, anything like that. But generally speaking, hunting rifles would have been something much more common in that part of the province.

[00:05:12] Speaker 1: Srishti, so when it comes to this rural town of Tumbler Ridge, I'm assuming it's a small community. Most people will know somebody impacted by this tragedy.

[00:05:24] Speaker 4: That's what we've been hearing from inside the community itself. There's about 2,400, 2,500 people who live there. We've been hearing that this is the kind of place where everybody knows each other. You leave your bicycle unlocked on the street and you can trust that it's going to be there when you get back. Just a very tight-knit community and certainly not the kind of place where you would think something like this would happen. I believe Tumbler Ridge Secondary School, where this happened, is the only high school in the town. So every person who grows up in Tumbler Ridge ends up going through that school.

[00:05:59] Speaker 1: We've been hearing from students from that school, Tumbler Ridge Secondary School, how they described how when the gunshots were heard, they got tables out, they barricaded the doors. Do you have that kind of process in Canada that you have in the United States where children are taught what to do in the event of a shooting?

[00:06:22] Speaker 4: It's definitely something that is a part of the curriculum, I would say. When I was in high school, not to date myself, we would definitely do lockdown drills and I think that is becoming, or it has become something that's just a part of life in Canada, but never in the real sense that I think people look at it in the United States. I think here it's still always treated as a little bit of a hypothetical, but I don't want to speculate on how curriculums look at it at the moment, unfortunately.

[00:06:57] Speaker 1: No, totally understand. But look, thank you so much for your time on a very difficult day for Canada. Srishti Gangdev, Assistant News Director at 1130 News Radio. Thank you. We have a live page, of course, and we are continuing to monitor what is happening there in Tumbler Ridge. A lot of eyewitness testimony as well, describing how these kids were barricading themselves inside their classrooms.