A violent incident at a school in British Columbia left seven people deceased, while two more were discovered deceased at a nearby home, Canadian authorities said Tuesday. A woman who police believe to be responsible for the attack also lost her life.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said more than 25 people were injured, including two who were airlifted to hospital in critical condition, following the incident at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School.

Such incidents are rare in Canada.

The town of Tumbler Ridge in the Canadian Rockies is more than 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) north of Vancouver, near the border with Alberta. The provincial government website lists Tumbler Ridge Secondary School as having 175 students from Grades 7 to 12.

British Columbia Premier David Eby told reporters that police officers reached the school within two minutes.

A video showed students walking out of the school with their hands raised as police vehicles surrounded the building and a helicopter circled overhead.

Police confirmed six fatalities at the scene, a statement said. The individual believed to be responsible appeared to have died from a self-inflicted injury. Another person passed away while being transported to a hospital, and two more were found deceased at a home authorities believe was connected to the incident.

RCMP Superintendent Ken Floyd told reporters that investigators had identified a female individual involved but would not release a name, and that the motive remained unclear. He added that police are still investigating how the victims are connected to the individual.

Tumbler Ridge Mayor Darryl Krakowka said the whole community is grieving.

“I broke down,” he said, calling it “devastating” to learn how many had lost their lives in the community of 2,700, which he described as a “big family.”

“I have lived here for 18 years,” Krakowka said. “I probably know every one of those affected.”

The Rev. George Rowe of the Tumbler Ridge Fellowship Baptist Church went to the recreation center where the victims’ families were awaiting more information.

“It was not a pretty sight. Families are still waiting to hear if it’s their child who has passed away and because of protocol and procedure the investigating team is very careful in releasing names,” Rowe said. “The big thing tonight was my having to walk away and the families still waiting to find out. It is so difficult. Other pastors and counselors are there so they are not alone.”

Rowe once taught at the high school and his three children graduated from there.

“To walk through the corridors of that school will never be the same again,” he said.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said in a social media post that he was devastated by the tragedy in Tumbler Ridge.

“I join Canadians in grieving with those whose lives have been changed irreversibly today, and in gratitude for the courage and selflessness of the first responders who risked their lives to protect their fellow citizens,” he wrote.

Carney’s office said he is suspending a planned trip to Halifax and Munich. He was set to announce a long-awaited defense industrial strategy in Halifax before heading to Europe for the Munich Security Conference.

Eby told reporters he had spoken to Carney after what he called the “unimaginable tragedy.”

“I know it’s causing us all to hug our kids a little bit tighter tonight,” he said. “I’m asking the people of British Columbia to look after the people of Tumbler Ridge tonight.”

Canada’s government has responded to previous large-scale attacks with firearm control measures, including a recently broadened ban on certain high-capacity firearms.

Tuesday’s events were Canada’s deadliest large-scale attack since 2020, when an attacker in Nova Scotia took 13 lives and set fires that left another nine people deceased.