Canada school shooting: what we know so far - The Latest

0:00This is The Guardian.

0:15It's the second worst mass shooting in Canadian history. Parents, grandparents, sisters, brothers, in Tumblr Ridge will wake up. The nation warns with you. Canada stands by you. This is a remote community relative to kind of big cities. It's 2 ,500 people. You just realize how shattered that place is because everyone will know someone. For us, that's still setting in of just how tightly knit this place was and how profound this will be for people. Canada is in shock after a deadly mass shooting at a secondary school in British Columbia. From the Guardians today in Focus, this is The Latest with me, Lucy Hoth.

1:01Joining me is Leylan Chekow, a Guardian reporter based in Toronto. Thanks so much for dialing in, Leylan. I know it's early where you are. So obviously the details of what tragically and horrifyingly unfolded in Tumblr Ridge yesterday are still emerging. We know there were 25 injured, nine dead at a shooting at a school and a local home. Right. Tell me about what we know so far. We actually know surprisingly little. Well, the police briefed media last night and they confirmed that there are 10 people dead in the school shooting and the residential shooting, including the perpetrator. But the police were very vague in terms of giving Canadians a sense of what actually happened.

1:44We don't know what the weapon was or how many weapons might have been used. We don't know the identity of the shooter. We don't know the relationship between the shooter and the victims in the residential unit. All that to say, I mean, it is very early. this is a remote community relative to kind of big cities. It's 2 ,500 people. There's a detachment of police of only five people. Like to give people a sense of how quickly the police were able to respond, within two minutes they were there, which I think speaks to both the immediacy of the situation, but also how tight-knit and small that community is.

2:16Yes, so tell me more about the community. As you say, it's 2 ,500 people. This was the one secondary school in the town, right? But I mean, you're just listening to the news reporting, And you get a sense of this very small, tight community where people rarely locked their doors, you know, a place that really felt like it was safe and secure. I mean, I'm biased. I'm from British Columbia myself. It's a beautiful part of the country. It's kind of near the Rocky Mountains, kind of right near the Alberta border. So it's quicker to drive to Alberta than it is major cities in B.C. But it's like a lot of B.C.

2:49small towns, right? These are people where, you know, virtually everyone for better, for worse. you know my dad grew up in a bc small town um i spent my summers in in kind of places um like that and you just i think when we first heard where it was and the scope of of the devastation i think you just realize how shattered that place is because everyone will know someone and i think for us that's still setting in of just how tightly knit this place was and how profound this will be for people. Yeah. So, I mean, nine people killed in the attack and the suspected perpetrator who is believed to be a female, according to police, with a self-inflicted wound in the school.

3:34But the police, as you say, not saying how many of that number are children, but the attack happened in a secondary school. What have the police been willing to say about that? I mean, surprisingly nothing. I mean, you know, you want to I want to give them credit for this is a very terrible situation. And I think they're just trying to there is privacy concerns about kind of releasing the names of victims before families are notified. But I think I and other reporters were very shocked at how little information the police were willing to give. They did say that the school went locked down teachers, obviously, as sadly, they do in these situation stepped in and helped.

4:13We just don't know who was affected by the shooting in terms of kind of casualties. We'll probably learn that today or maybe tomorrow. But in many ways, I mean, others speaking to members of the community, people are flying blind. And I think there's a sense that people need to be notified of kind of who was involved before all that is released to the public. So the Tumblr Ridge Secondary School is going to be closed until the rest of the week. I mean, unbelievable to imagine what the staff and parents are going through there. But are there security measures across Canada in response to this? People must be feeling very shocked and shaken.

4:53I mean, shocked is, I think, a good way of describing how people are making sense of this. I think the sad reality is there are security measures in place in schools, and there have been for years. I mean, my wife is a teacher, and the fact that she kind of knows lockdown stuff is very troubling. it's just terrible. Terrible. I mean, Mark Carney, the prime minister has cancelled his foreign visits this week. He has tweeted about the horrifying nature of this attack, calling it horrific, sending his prayers to the victims and their families. But I mean, like you say, there's this shock, isn't there?

5:32Because this is the type of shooting that, you know, tragically, we've become somewhat accustomed to talking about in the US. But in Canada, it's extremely unusual. Yeah, I mean, I think the scope is horrific. It's the second worst mass shooting in Canadian history. The other one also being a school in 1989, when a shooter targeted 14 women. You know, there's so much we don't know about the weapons that were used. I can tell you the gun laws in Canada are very different from they are in the US. It's very hard to own a handgun in Canada. It's next to impossible to own what we would call an assault style rifle but you know this is a rural community right people hunt people are gun owners there is a high degree of gun ownership in Canada it's just it's a very different kind of gun that you might see in the United States and so I think as a result you know gun violence takes a different form in Canada it's often kind of gang related shootings or kind of in more urban centers so to see something like this I think we're all trying to digest what happened last night because I think it's not unprecedented, but it's shocking.

6:40Yeah. And like you say, it is very difficult to acquire legal license to possess a handgun. So, I mean, are there conversations about gun reform happening today in light of this or last night? I mean, I think we've been having these conversations for years in Canada, and there's been this tension between kind of people who are gun owners in rural communities who feel as though there's been kind of government overreach in terms of what guns are classified as, say, an assault-style rifle. Like, I can tell you the government for handguns has made it next to impossible. You can legally own one, but you have to have it secured in your house.

7:15And the only place you could use it is a gun range, and it has to be secured. The laws make it very difficult. In Canada, it's very different kind of what you would call maybe stand-your-ground laws. so kind of the the law isn't always on your side when it comes to kind of self-defense so like we have just a very different relationship with both guns and how they're used in society but again you know this is British Columbia this is rural British Columbia a lot of people do own guns for hunting and so I think I'm not sure this is going to really kind of prompt a discussion about gun laws in the country but again there's also so much we don't know about kind of what was used in this attack.

7:55Yeah and obviously the police investigation will be continuing today but police are not looking for anyone else in connection with this at the moment and the suspect believed to be a female who took her own life at the scene but I mean where does this go next from here do you think Leyland I mean presumably you're talking to people in Tumblr Ridge who have lots of questions about how this was able to happen. I mean I think this is a time in which kind of the nation is just trying to come together and make sense of this. And, you know, as a journalist, you know, my job is to tell the stories of people who want to speak about those who are affected by it and kind of help readers understand the place and how it's changed forever.

8:39Yeah, Leland, thank you so much. Thanks, Lucy. That's it for today. My huge thanks again to Leland Checo, Guardian reporter based in Toronto. And you can keep up with his reporting on this story over at theguardian.com. Today in Focus, we'll be back in your feeds as usual tomorrow morning and we'll be back tomorrow night. This episode was presented by me, Lucy Hoff. The producer was Bryony Moore. The senior producer was Ryan Ramgobin. The lead producer was Zoe Hitch.

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