Prime Minister Mark Carney will attend a vigil in Tumbler Ridge, where eight were killed in a rare mass shooting, as the community grieves.

TUMBLER RIDGE: Prime Minister Mark Carney will join mourners in this remote mining town on Friday. The community is grieving after eight people were killed in a mass school shooting.

Such violence is rare in Canada, which maintains strict gun control laws. Police have not determined the motive of the 18-year-old shooter, who died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Carney will attend a vigil in memory of the victims. His office confirmed he has invited leaders from all political parties to join him.

The streets of the town, with a population of 2,400, were quiet on Thursday. Many stores closed as residents observed a day of mourning.

A bouquet of flowers and stuffed animals were placed near the school. Yellow police tape surrounded the school buildings and a snow-covered volleyball court.

Linda Laroque, who lived near the shooter, described the attack as “heartbreaking.” Her 13-year-old granddaughter was at the school during the attack.

The girl hid in a packed closet and listened to the gunshots. She heard “including the last one” when the shooter died by suicide.

The town, known for its proximity to the Canadian Rockies, shunned journalists. The British Columbia provincial government canceled all official business and observed a minute of silence.

Police identified the shooter as Jesse Van Rootselaar, a transgender woman. She killed her mother and stepbrother before shooting six people at the town’s high school.

The victims included a 39-year-old female teacher, three 12-year-old girls, and two boys aged 13 and 12. The initial death toll was reported as nine before being revised down.

British Columbia Premier David Eby had said a young girl was “fighting for her life.” Van Rootselaar, who dropped out of school four years ago, was known to have mental health issues.

Nearly everyone in the town has a connection to one of the victims. Hundreds gathered for a candlelight vigil on Wednesday night.

“I couldn’t wrap my head around it,” said Emphraim Almazan, a miner. “I was like, there’s no way it happened in Tumbler Ridge.”

The tragedy ranks among Canada’s deadliest shootings. It follows the 2020 Nova Scotia mass shooting which claimed 22 lives and led to a ban on many assault weapons.

Authorities are investigating Van Rootselaar’s previous interactions with police and health care providers. She held a firearms license which had lapsed.

Weapons had previously been confiscated but were subsequently returned. Carney made an emotional address to parliament about the tragedy.

“These children and their teachers bore witness to unheard-of cruelty,” he said. He described Tumbler Ridge as a town of miners, teachers and construction workers.

They represent “the very best of Canada: resilient, compassionate and strong,” Carney stated. At the Tumbler Ridge Fellowship Baptist Church, Pastor George Rowe said he saw that strength.

“This will not break us,” Rowe told AFP.

 The Sun Malaysia