Sawt Falasteen - Canada PM to join mourners in remote town after mass shooting

Such violence is rare in Canada, which has strict gun control laws unlike in the neighboring United States. Police say they do not know the motive of the 18-year-old shooter who died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Carney will attend a vigil in Tumbler Ridge in memory of the victims, and he invited leaders from all political parties to join him, his office told AFP.

The streets of the town, population 2,400, were quiet Thursday, with many stores closed as residents observed a day of mourning.

Near the school, a bouquet of flowers and stuffed animals were placed at the foot of a tree. Yellow police tape surrounded the school buildings and a snow-covered volleyball court.

Linda Laroque, a soft-spoken woman who lived two doors down from the shooter, said the attack was "heartbreaking."

Her 13-year-old granddaughter was at the school when the attack occurred, and listened to the gunshots while hiding in a packed closet "including the last one" when the shooter died by suicide.

Known for its proximity to the Canadian Rockies, the town shunned journalists reporting on the tragedy. The British Columbia provincial government canceled all official business and observed a minute of silence.

Police said Jesse Van Rootselaar, a transgender woman, killed her mother and stepbrother before shooting dead six people at the town's high school -- a 39-year-old female teacher, three 12-year-old girls and two boys, aged 13 and 12.

The initial death toll was reported to be nine before being revised down to eight, with a young girl "fighting for her life," according to British Columbia Premier David Eby.

- Candlelight vigil -

Van Rootselaar, who dropped out of the school four years ago, was known to have mental health issues.

Nearly everyone in the town has a connection to one of the victims. Hundreds gathered for a candlelight vigil Wednesday night.

"I couldn't wrap my head around it," said Emphraim Almazan, a miner who moved to the tight-knit community three years ago. "I was like, there's no way it happened in Tumbler Ridge."

The tragedy ranks among Canada's deadliest, following the 2020 Nova Scotia mass shooting which claimed 22 lives and led to a ban on many assault weapons.

Authorities are investigating Van Rootselaar's previous interactions with police and health care providers.

Van Rootselaar held a firearms license which had lapsed, and weapons had previously been confiscated -- but were subsequently returned.

Carney made an emotional address to parliament, saying "these children and their teachers bore witness to unheard-of cruelty."

At the Tumbler Ridge Fellowship Baptist Church, Pastor George Rowe said he saw that strength in his community.

"This will not break us," Rowe told AFP.

P.Tamimi--SF-PST