Feb 11, 2026, 1:13 p.mFeb 11, 2026, 1:13 p.m
Ten people were killed in one of the worst gun violence incidents in Canadian history. Among the dead was a woman who, according to initial findings, was considered a suspect.
The police announced this on Tuesday (local time) in the western province of British Columbia. Her body was found in a school in the town of Tumbler Ridge, where seven people were killed and around two dozen others were injured by gunfire. Two more dead people were found at another location that was probably connected to the crime.
This screenshot from a video shows students leaving school in Tumbler Ridge after a fatal shooting.Image: AP Jordon Kosik
The motive is still a mystery. It was also not stated whether the dead were children or teachers. First the victims had to be identified and the families notified, it was said. The alleged perpetrator died from a “self-inflicted injury”. She has now been identified, local media said.
In the town with 2,700 residents, almost everyone knows each other, said Mayor Darryl Krakowka. «I’ve been here for 19 years, we’re a small community. I don’t call them residents, I call them family.” Tumbler Ridge is located approximately 700 kilometers northeast of Vancouver as the crow flies.
Student on the situation: “Almost surreal”
According to their own statements, the police were informed of shots fired at a school in Tumbler Ridge at 1:20 p.m. local time (9:20 p.m. CET) and were on site a few minutes later. At about this time, an alarm sounded in the school with a call to seek safety in the classrooms, a student told the CBC: “We took tables and barricaded the doors.” The whole thing seemed “almost surreal”. “It felt like I was in a place that I had only seen on television.”
Bloodiest school incident in Canada since 1989
Provincial Prime Minister David Eby also expressed it similarly: “It’s something that only feels like it’s happening elsewhere.” It is possible that he was thinking of the neighboring USA, where similar acts of violence often occur in schools. Experts attribute the fact that there is comparatively less gun violence in Canada to the fact that the gun laws there are much stricter than in the neighboring country.
According to the media on Tuesday, it was the deadliest incident of its kind at a training facility in Canada in almost 40 years. “This will have an impact for years to come,” Eby said with conviction. Like what happened in 1989, when a 25-year-old shot 14 female students at a technical college in Montreal before taking his own life. The North American country experienced the worst bloody act in its criminal history to date in 2020: a 51-year-old dentist ran amok for 13 hours in the province of Nova Scotia. The man in a police uniform killed 22 people and set fires before he was shot.
Police searched for “woman in dress”
For several hours on Tuesday (local time), the police called on people in the area to lock their doors and not leave their homes or businesses until further notice. According to the warning, a search was underway for a “brown-haired woman in a dress” in the afternoon. For data protection reasons and to protect the investigation, no further details will be announced at first, it was said.
Canada’s Prime Minister and Chancellor Merz is dismayed
The Canadian prime minister reacted with dismay. He was “deeply shocked,” Mark Carney wrote on the According to media reports, he canceled his trip to the security conference in Munich.
I am devastated by today’s horrific shootings in Tumbler Ridge, BC My prayers and deepest condolences are with the families and friends who have lost loved ones to these horrific acts of violence.
I join Canadians in grieving with those whose lives have been changed…
— Mark Carney (@MarkJCarney) February 11, 2026
From Germany, Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) expressed his condolences: “We are deeply saddened by the many deaths after shots were fired at a school. Our thoughts are with the people of Tumbler Ridge as they mourn the loss of friends and family. I wish the injured a speedy recovery,” he wrote on X. French President Emmanuel Macron said: “Our thoughts are with the families of the victims, the injured and the entire school community.” (sda/dpa)