Authorities have identified the perpetrator behind the mass shooting at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School in British Columbia, Canada, which claimed ten lives. The gunman, identified as 17-year-old Jesse Strang, reportedly opened fire at the school after killing two individuals at a nearby residence. Strang subsequently died by suicide at the scene.
Early reports regarding the shooter’s identity were conflicting, with initial descriptions suggesting the suspect was a woman, followed by reports of a man dressed in women’s clothing. Family members have since clarified to local media that Jesse Strang was a transgender individual. While the shooter’s identity is confirmed, a motive for the attack remains unknown.
National response and casualties
The attack occurred in Tumbler Ridge, a quiet town of 2,300 residents at the foot of the Rocky Mountains. The shooting left ten dead, including seven victims inside the school and the gunman. An additional twenty-seven people were injured, two of whom remain in critical condition.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney announced the postponement of an upcoming diplomatic trip to Europe following the tragedy. Carney had been scheduled to attend the Munich Security Conference, an event expected to host over sixty heads of state. In a statement released via X, the Prime Minister expressed his profound shock, describing the massacre as “horrific.”
“I join all Canadians in mourning those whose lives were irrevocably changed today. I also wish to express my gratitude for the courage and selflessness of our first responders and security forces,” Carney stated.
Moments of terror: “We barricaded the doors”
Survivors have begun to share harrowing accounts of the tragic event. Darian Quist, a twelfth-grade student, told CBC Radio West that he had just arrived in class around 1:30 p.m. local time when the alarms began to blare.
“After we locked the doors, my classmates and I began to realize something was terribly wrong,” Quist said. He described how students received terrifying images and updates on their phones while they “piled up desks and barricaded themselves behind doors” for over two hours until tactical officers were able to reach them.
While mass casualty events are historically rare in Canada, this marks the second major tragedy in British Columbia within a year. In April 2025, eleven people were killed in Vancouver when a man drove a vehicle into a crowd at a Filipino cultural festival.
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