At least 23 people were killed in mass shooting in Canada’s Nova Scotia province, according to the police on Tuesday.
“We believe there to be 23 victims, including a 17-year-old (girl). All other victims are adults, both men and women,” the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said in a statement.
“We have recovered remains from some of the locations of the fires,” police said, noting that at least five homes and buildings, as well as several vehicles, had been set alight by the suspect.
The attack took place on Saturday night in the rural beachside community of Portapique.
Police identified the gunman, as 51-year-old Gabriel Wortman. He died roughly 14 hours later after being shot by police at a gas station outside Halifax, 100 kilometers (60 miles) away.
“Some of the victims were known to Gabriel Wortman and were targeted while others were not known to the suspect,” the RCMP said.
According to the police, they have also discovered “multiple sites in the immediate area, including structures and vehicles that were on fire”.
Among the dead were a teacher, a home care nurse working on the frontlines of the coronavirus pandemic, and an RCMP officer.
A national virtual vigil will be held this week to honour the victims of the shooting, as the province is locked-down due to the virus., the BBC reported.
Many other virtual vigils have since sprung up on social media as people mourn the tragedy.
The first victim made public was Const Stevenson, a 23-year veteran of the force and a mother of two, BBC said in a report.
On Tuesday, police said that they have “information that other members of the public have been injured as well” but did not offer more details.
On February 2,, at least three people were killed and two others injured in a shooting in an apartment rented on Airbnb in Toronto.
Last year, in October, a gunman opened fire at a house party in Orinda, California that was an Airbnb rental that left four men and a woman dead.
In June 2019, four people were injured after a shooting at the NBA championship celebration for the Toronto Raptors.
Toronto is relatively a safe region. But in 2018, the city experienced a surge in gun violence with the number of homicides caused by shootings going up significantly.
(With inputs from agency)