PM says Canada ‘will get through this’ after shooting

A visibly upset Prime Minister Mark Carney vowed that Canadians would get over what he called a “horrific” shooting at a school in British Columbia’s Pacific province.

Carney said federal Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree was heading to the Tumbler Ridge area, where at least 10 people were killed in one of the worst mass shootings in recent Canadian history.

“We will get through this. We will learn from this,” Carney told reporters, breaking down in tears at one point.

“But right now, it is a time to come together, support each other, grieve together and grow together, as Canadians always do in these situations, these terrible situations.”

Carney, who postponed his European trip, said he had ordered flags at all government buildings to be flown at half-mast for the next seven days.

He will make a statement to the parliament at 14.00 on Wednesday.

Many prominent world leaders sent messages of condolence.

Canada’s president, King Charles, said he was “deeply shocked and saddened” by the attack.

“We can only begin to imagine the terrible shadow now descending on Tumbler Ridge,” he said in a statement released by his office.

Police said the suspect, described as a “woman in a dress with brown hair,” shot and killed six people at the school in Tumbler Ridge, a remote municipality with a population of about 2,400 in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains.

While two more people were found dead in a house thought to be related to the incident, one person died on the way to the hospital.

Police said a suspected attacker was also found dead from what appeared to be a self-inflicted wound.

At least two more people were hospitalized with serious or life-threatening injuries.

The shooting is among the deadliest in Canadian history.

Canada’s gun laws are stricter than those of the United States, but Canadians can own firearms with a licence.

“There is no word strong enough in the English language to describe the level of devastation this community has experienced,” said local state legislator Larry Neufeld.

“It’s going to take a significant amount of effort and a significant amount of courage to repair this terrorism,” he told CBC News.