Canadian police have identified the suspect who carried out a school massacre in remote British Columbia as an 18-year old woman with a history of mental health problems.
Six people, including a teacher and five students, were killed in the attack on Tuesday in the town of Tumbler Ridge, in foothills of the Rocky mountains.
The victim’s mother and step-brother were later found dead at the family home, police said. The body of the shooter was also found with a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
The incident was one of the worst mass casualty events in Canada’s recent history.
“This is a deeply distressing incident where nine individuals have senselessly lost their lives,” said Dwayne McDonald, deputy commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, at a briefing on Wednesday in which he revised the death toll down to nine from the initially reported 10.
In a somber update to a tragedy that has shaken the country, McDonald said one of the victims believed to have succumbed to her injuries had survived but remains in critical condition.
According to police, the shooter, Jesse Van Rootselaar, arrived at a Tumbler Ridge secondary school on Tuesday afternoon, armed with a long gun and a modified handgun. The shooter opened fire on staff and students, killing one teacher and five students, whose ages ranged from 12 to 13.
Police arrived within two minutes of the shooting and were fired upon. When they entered the school, they found the victims in a stairwell and a classroom. The body of the shooter was also found.
