Tumbler Ridge, the remote British Columbia town where a shooter killed 9 people on Tuesday at a school and residence before dying of a self-inflicted injury, has a population of about 2,400 people and lies near the border with Alberta.
The town sits at the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, in the province’s northeast, and is surrounded by expansive mountain ranges and a geological park recognized by UNESCO, the United Nations cultural agency. It is so remote that cellphone service cuts out about 30 seconds into a car ride out of town, said Danielle Roscher, the owner of a local outdoor tour company.
Against that backdrop, the attacks that unfolded on Tuesday are even more unsettling, she said. “It just doesn’t even seem real.”
Tumbler Ridge Secondary School, where the shooting occurred, has 160 to 175 students, according to the websites for the school district and provincial government. Because of the school’s small size, there is a “tremendous sense of community” between staff and students, the district’s website said.
In addition to the secondary school, the town has just one elementary school and one college, according to the town’s official website.
Tumbler Ridge was once a mining hub, home to two major mines that shut down in 2000 and 2003. Later, officials began a marketing campaign encouraging people to relocate to Tumbler Ridge for its affordable housing and proximity to nature. Now, the town is known for its outdoor tourism.
Most of the province of British Columbia is policed by federal officers because rural towns like Tumbler Ridge are not populous enough to have their own municipal police forces.
Vjosa Isai is a reporter for The Times based in Toronto, where she covers news from across Canada.
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