Within moments of receiving reports that there was a shooter nearby, Stacie Gruntman, the principal of Tumbler Ridge secondary school, did what educators are increasingly trained to do: she put the school in lockdown.

Gruntman rushed through the tiny school in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains in northern British Columbia, checking that classroom doors were secured. Teachers shut off the lights and huddled with their students.

Darian Quist, a grade 12 student, told CBC Radio that he and his classmates initially thought the lockdown was a drill. But then they began to receive “disturbing” photos from other parts of the school, and the fear set in.

“We got tables and barricaded the doors,” he said. In the gymnasium, older students comforted younger children. Loud bangs echoed throughout the building.

In a town with only three police vehicles, officers arrived less than five minutes after the alarm was raised.

Their quick response is credited with saving countless lives, but by then six people had already been killed at the school. More than two dozen people were injured and one victim died en route to a hospital. The suspected shooter was also found dead. Two other people were later found dead at a nearby home.

On Wednesday morning, both schools in the mountain village of Tumbler Ridge were closed and police tape blocked roads. Dozens of officers, flown in from other parts of the province, continued what will be harrowing and emotionally turbulent investigation.

Police have said little about the timeline, the shooter or the victims. But as accounts of one of Canada’s deadliest mass shootings trickle out, stories of heroism and tragedy have laid bare the scope of devastation that has left the small town and nation in shock and grief.

“There are no words in the English language that capture the horror of what happened,” said provincial lawmaker Larry Neufeld.

The remote coalmining community of just 2,700 people is encircled by thick forest and is prized for its proximity to nature. But daily routine was shattered on Tuesday when an emergency alert blared from phones, warning residents of an active shooter.

Parents were notified the two schools had been placed on lockdown, but given little information. Hours later, images circulating on social media showed frightened students exiting the school, their hands in the air.

Tumbler Ridge mayor Darryl Krakowka said that when he first heard the death toll, he “broke down”.

“I have lived here for 18 years,” he said of the community that he described as a “big family”. “I probably know every one of the victims.”

Chris Norbury, a town councillor whose wife is a teacher at the school, said his “heart and soul are heavy” as residents struggled to make sense of the tragedy.

“I cannot stop thinking about the children, the teachers, and the first responders who had to live through such a terrifying experience,” he said in a social media post. “Like many in our community, I felt the fear, the kind that sits in your heart and soul that doesn’t let go. The fear that I lost a loved one. It is something none of us should ever have to experience.”

Rhen-Rhen Reyes Ceredon said her son was one of the students who endured the hours-long lockdown.

“It’s just so traumatic for him what he witnessed in their school. My fellow parents, I know this situation is very terrifying and shocking. We need to talk our children for their mental health, what they feel, and what’s going on to their lives,” she posted on social media. “Comfort them and let them feel that you are always there for them. This tragedy will always be in their mind. We need to help them overcome this trauma.”

The shooting – Canada’s deadliest mass killing since 2020, when a gunman in Nova Scotia killed 13 people and set fires that left another nine dead – has left the country grief-stricken and in shock. Political leaders were openly emotional in their responses.

Mark Carney, who spent his early years in a small west Canadian town, said Tumbler Ridge was bracing for a “very difficult” day.

“Parents, grandparents, sisters, brothers in Tumbler Ridge will wake up without someone they love. The nation mourns with you; Canada stands by you.”

He said flags at government buildings would be lowered to half-mast. He also cancelled a trip to Germany.

Pierre Poilievre, the Conservative leader of the opposition, said: “As a father, I can’t even imagine the phone calls that parents might have received. I can’t imagine the heartache and hell that they’re living through at this moment.”

Both schools in Tumbler Ridge will remain closed for the rest of the week. “There is no timeline for how each of us will process this grief and immense loss, both individually and as a community,” the school district said in a statement. “While words often feel inadequate in the face of such loss, coming together can help reduce isolation and remind us that we are not alone.”

Trent Ernst, publisher of the local Tumbler RidgeLines newspaper, said he had been so overwhelmed by media requests that he hadn’t yet written a story on the shooting.

Reflecting the nature of many small towns in the region, where people juggle different jobs, Ernst previously had worked as a substitute teacher in the school.

“As somebody who has worked there, who knows the people there, and who knows a lot of the kids, this is really hitting hitting me hard. This is hitting the community hard,” he said. “Stay safe, be warm, love your neighbours, love your family, and just know that I’m my heart is there with you.”