‘What happened has left our nation in shock,’ Carney says in wake of B.C. mass killing

Prime Minister Mark Carney said the country is in mourning after a tragic shooting in Tumbler Ridge, B.C., left nine dead and more than 25 injured in one of the worst mass killings in Canadian history.

Speaking in the House of Commons Wednesday afternoon, Carney said the violence has “left our nation in shock” and his thoughts are with the parents, grandparents, brothers and sisters of those who were taken in a series of horrific events Tuesday in the small mining town in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains.

“To those families who have lost loved ones: we mourn with you. To those recovering from their injuries: we are praying for you,” Carney said. 

“We have been here before — École Polytechnique in Montreal, the Islamic Cultural Centre of Quebec City, La Loche, Saskatchewan, Humboldt, Portapique, Nova Scotia,” he said, naming past mass casualty events.

“Each time, it breaks us open. Each time, Canadians show who we are.”

Carney earlier teared up as he spoke to reporters about what had unfolded.

There will be “important questions” to ask and “difficult conversations” to be had as police try to stitch together what exactly happened and why, Carney said, but that will be left for another day.

“We will get through this. We will learn from this, but right now it’s a time to come together as Canadians always do in these terrible situations.”

Carney said all flags on Parliament Hill and federal buildings across the country will be flown at half-mast for the next seven days.

Carney said King Charles personally reached out to offer condolences. World leaders from the U.K., France, Norway, Finland, India and the United Arab Emirates, among others, contacted him directly expressing “solidarity and compassion,” he said. A number of diplomats were also on hand in the Commons as Carney and others marked the tragedy.

The prime minister cancelled other planned events on his schedule on Wednesday, including an announcement in Halifax on Canada’s security and defence.

Carney was also due to travel to Europe for the Munich Security Conference but the prime minister has decided to stay in Ottawa at this time, his office said, and a complement of ministers will go in his place.

Carney said Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree was en route to B.C. to help co-ordinate the federal response to the mass shooting.

Anandasangaree and Housing Minister Gregor Robertson, who is from Vancouver, will be accompanying B.C. Premier David Eby.

“All assistance will be offered,” Carney said, while thanking first responders, school staff and community members.

“In the darkest of moments, they showed the best of Canada.”

At a news conference in Surrey, B.C., police identified the shooter as an 18-year-old female, Jesse Van Rootselaar, someone who B.C. RCMP Deputy Commissioner Dwayne McDonald said had past interactions with police because of at least one mental health-related call.

McDonald said six victims were found dead inside Tumbler Ridge Secondary School — one in a hallway and the others in the library — and another died on the way to the hospital. Among them were a 39-year-old teacher, three 12-year-old girls and two boys aged 12 and 13, police said.

Law enforcement have not released further details about those victims’ identities, citing privacy and a need to confirm and notify family first, as is standard practice in B.C.

“Most of the victims are quite young,” McDonald said. “This is incredibly traumatic.”

Van Rootselaar was also found dead inside the school from what has been described as “a self-inflicted injury.”

Two more people, who McDonald identified as Van Rootselaar’s 39-year-old mother and a brother, 11, were found dead inside what was described as a nearby family home.

Interim NDP Leader Don Davies, who gathered with other MPs on Parliament Hill Wednesday to mark National Kindness Week, which is designed to promote empathy, said it’s a “cruel irony” this commemoration falls at the same time the country is grappling with such a horrific event.

“What people need the most isn’t sharper rhetoric but more kindness and humanity,” Davies said.

Conservative MP Bob Zimmer, who represents the community in Parliament, said in an interview with CBC News that what has unfolded is “absolutely devastating.”

Zimmer said he’s going back to the riding to be with his constituents.

“I just want to hear from the people of Tumbler Ridge,” he said. “Pray for them.”

B.C. Liberal MP Stephen Fuhr said what’s transpired is a “massive tragedy” and the aftermath will be tough for the 2,400 residents of Tumbler Ridge.

“It’s a very small community, it will be difficult — who do you lean on when your entire community is affected by a tragedy of this magnitude?” Fuhr said. “I’m pretty shaken by it. It’s a massive deal, it’s not too far from my home riding of Kelowna.”

While mass killings like this are rare in Canada, this is the second deadly incident in B.C. in less than a year after a car was driven into a crowd last April during Vancouver’s Lapu-Lapu Day festival.