Four Dead at Canada School Shooting, Suspect Arrested

Local Editor

The gunman suspected of killing four people and injuring several others in Canada's worst school violence in a decade first shot his two brothers at home before opening fire at the remote community high school in which at least four people were killed and two others seriously wounded.

Police said a suspect was arrested after the shooting in La Loche, Saskatchewan, an impoverished community about 600 km north of the city of Saskatoon.

Relatively, mass shootings are rare in Canada, which has stricter gun laws than the United States.

A family friend said the teenaged suspect shot his two younger brothers before going to the school and shooting a teacher and an assistant.

According to police sources, the shooting occurred in the high school and a second location, in which the suspect was taken into custody outside the school and seized a gun.

La Loche student, Noel Desjarlais, told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation that he heard multiple shots fired at the school, which has about 900 students.

"I ran outside the school," Desjarlais said. "There was lots of screaming, there was about six, seven shots before I got outside. I believe there was more shots by the time I did get out."

Among Canada's provinces, Saskatchewan had the highest rate of police-reported family violence in 2014, double the national rate of 243 incidents per 100,000 people, according to a Statistics Canada report.

Besides, unemployment runs above 20 percent in the area but three-quarters of working-age people are classified as retired or not looking for work, according to 2011 government figures. Residents say the real unemployment rate is above 50 percent.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team