Tumbler Ridge is a smallish British Columbia town, buried about 700 miles northeast of Vancouver, up in the part of the province near the border with neighboring Alberta. It only has around 2400 residents in an area best known for hiking, glorious waterfalls, and dinosaur-related discoveries.
...The town sits at the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, in the province’s northeast, and is surrounded by expansive mountain ranges and a geological park recognized by UNESCO, the United Nations cultural agency. It is so remote that cellphone service cuts out about 30 seconds into a car ride out of town, said Danielle Roscher, the owner of a local outdoor tour company.
The local middle school - a 'secondary school' they call it, grades 7-12 - has about 175 enrolled students.
No one ever expected the phone call that came yesterday, about an active shooter firing on the community.
• At about 1:20 p.m. local time, an alert was issued to residents of Tumbler Ridge and the surrounding area about reports of an active shooter in the community. Residents were locked down until the alert was officially cancelled at 5:45 p.m.
• RCMP say six victims were killed at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School. A seventh victim died on the way to hospital. Two more people were found dead in a residence, which police say was connected to the school shooting, for a total of 10 dead, including the suspect, who died of a "self-inflicted injury."
• Police say they believe they have identified the shooter but have not yet released more information about who they were. They have also not released details about the victims' identities, including their age, citing privacy and a need to confirm and notify family first, as is standard practice in British Columbia.
• 25 more were injured but we don't know their status, the extent of their injuries, or where they are being treated. B.C. Emergency Health Services, which provides ambulance service in the province, says they airlifted two people to hospital: "one in critical condition, and one in serious but stable condition."
• Paramedics treated others at the scene "who did not require hospital transport," the health services also said.
The tiny Tumbler Ridge police force was on the scene in literally minutes.
...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 shooter visited the worst of their deadly damage on the defenseless occupants at the Tumbler Ridge secondary school.
A shooter initially described by authorities as a 'female in a dress.'
...An alert was issued about an active shooter at the school in the small town of Tumbler Ridge on Tuesday afternoon. The suspect was described in the alert as a “female in a dress”.
...Authorities searched the school and initially found six victims with fatal gun wounds. A seventh person who was shot at the school died while being transported to the hospital.
Police searched the school, evacuating the rest of the remaining staff and kiddos out safely...
..."This was a rapidly evolving and dynamic situation, and the swift cooperation from the school, first responders, and the community played a critical role in our response," Superintendent Ken Floyd, North District Commander, said in a statement. "Our thoughts are with the families, loved ones, and all those impacted by this tragic incident. This has been an incredibly difficult and emotional day for our community, and we are grateful for the cooperation shown as officers continue their work to advance the investigation."
All remaining students and staff were safely evacuated from the school, police said.
Police do not believe there are any additional suspects or ongoing threat to the public.
The identity of the suspected shooter has not been released and police have not identified a possible motive. Officials did not say whether the shooter had any connection to the school.
Floyd confirmed the shooter was the same individual described in a police alert issued earlier in the day as a "female in a dress with brown hair."
... before finding two more bodies elsewhere at a residence in town that police believe is conncted 'to the incident.'
Twenty-five more people were injured, two critically enough that they had to be airlifted out. The shooter's body was found at the school with a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
...“As part of the initial response to the active shooting, police entered the school to locate the threat,” the B.C. RCMP wrote in a statement Tuesday evening. “During the search, officers located multiple victims. An individual believed to be the shooter was also found deceased with what appears to be a self‑inflicted injury.”
During the initial press conference on the ghastly tragedy, RCMP Staff Sgt. Kris Clark used the most obfuscatory language imaginable to describe the murderer.
The dead assailant was, the Sgt said, a 'gun-person.' It sounds even more ludicrous when a reporter is corrected and has to ask the Sgt a question using the term.
One of Canadas deadliest mass showings was caused not by a man, or a woman, but a “gun person”
— CryptoCoinFlipper (@CoinFlipperDude) February 11, 2026
I’ll let you all connect the dots.#transgender
pic.twitter.com/pDU1luF2gv
The cautious phrasing and refusal, for the privacy rights of the dead suspect, no less, to name the gun-person curiously described as 'a female in a dress' has only served to blow speculation about the true identity of the individual sky high.
🚨 Breaking: RCMP Staff Sgt. Kris Clark refuses to name the Tumbler Ridge school shooter — citing PRIVACY REASONS
— Alec Lace (@AlecLace) February 11, 2026
When it's a trans homicidal maniac behind a mass killing, suddenly privacy trumps victims families knowing the truth.
Peak Liberalism pic.twitter.com/5CKQrDLXhy
The town is so small and so remote that this unspeakable act by a deranged whatever it was has left their already tottering medical infrastructure reeling. Help is pouring in from Alberta and other provinces to care for the physically and mentally wounded. At night and on weekends, isolated Tumbler Ridge has no doctors available on call.
...Up until yesterday, the biggest story in Tumbler Ridge was a lack of access to emergency care services after changes last fall that left the community without any on-call doctors overnight or on weekends. Hundreds of people have turned out to rallies to try to reverse that move.
Northern Health, which oversees coverage in the area, says it is working to recruit new doctors to restore service, but so far they haven’t had any luck.
Premier David Eby said yesterday that Danielle Smith has offered support from Alberta, and this morning Mayor Darryl Krakowka said he’d been told physicians and nurses from outside the community are on their way to support local healthcare.
It's such a little, lonely, tight-knit kind of place for something so God-awful to happen.
...Tumbler Ridge Mayor Darryl Krakowka said it was “devastating” to learn how many had died in the community of 2,700, which he called a “big family.”
“I broke down,” Krakowka said. “I have lived here for 18 years. I probably know every one of the victims.”
There is no further information this morning, although it is early yet - Tumbler Ridge is on permanent Mountain Time. So not only is the murderer's identity still a mystery and fueling an insane amount of speculation, but the victims are mysteries as well. Were they all students, some teachers, aides...no one knows who to mourn.
But hearts are broken, and prayers are up for all of those families in their losses, and for those who have loved ones who have to recover from this.
Here's hope that Tumbler Ridge finds a doctor who wants to stay.
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