Ten dead after woman opens fire at high school in Canada

Ten people are dead including the shooter after a woman opened fire at a high school in western Canada on Tuesday before turning the gun on herself, police said.

The outburst, one of the country's deadliest mass casualty events in recent history, brought to Canada the type of mass shooting more common in the neighboring United States.

Six people were found dead inside a high school in the town of Tumbler Ridge in British Columbia, two more people were found dead at a residence believed to be connected to the incident, and another person died on the way to hospital, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said.

At least two other people were hospitalized with serious or life-threatening injuries, and as many as 25 people were being treated for non-life-threatening injuries, police said.

A suspected shooter was also found dead from what appears to be a self‑inflicted injury, police said, adding they did not believe there were any more suspects or ongoing threat to the public.

Police described the shooter as a woman - an unusual development as mass shootings in North America are almost always carried out by men.

A police active shooter alert said the suspect was described "as female in a dress with brown hair." Police Superintendent Ken Floyd later confirmed at a press conference that the suspect described in the alert was the same person found dead in the school. Police did not say how many of the victims may have been minors.

Reuters