Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and Pierre Poilivre, leader of the country's main opposition Conservative Party, held hands as they paid tribute to the victims of one of the worst mass shootings in Canadian history at a vigil in the devastated town of Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, the Associated Press reported.
The two political leaders held hands as an indigenous leader sang a prayer outside city hall.
Carney and Poilivre also delivered speeches. The prime minister named the six people killed at the city's middle school and said the mother and brother of the shooter, who were also killed, "deserve to be mourned."
Authorities said the 18-year-old gunman, identified as Jessie Van Rotselaar, killed her 39-year-old mother, Jennifer Jacobs, and her 11-year-old stepbrother in their home on Tuesday before heading to nearby Tumbler Ridge High School and opening fire. She killed five children and a teacher before killing herself.
Carney said he sat with people who were "going through something no one should have to go through." "When you wake up tomorrow and the world seems impossible, know that millions of Canadians are with you. "When the cameras go away and the silence falls, know that we will still be here," Carney said.
Hundreds of people attended the vigil. Some held photos of their loved ones who had died.
Carney said society has always relied on people taking care of each other. "And when the unthinkable happened on Tuesday, you were there again. First responders arrived at the school within two minutes. The teachers protected the children," he said.
Poilivre praised Carney's statement. Canada's political leaders arrived together on a flight from Ottawa.
On Thursday, authorities identified those killed at the school - four 12-year-olds, a 13-year-old and 39-year-old teacher's aide Shanda Aviugana-Duran. Two of the victims, a 12-year-old and a 19-year-old, remain in hospital with gunshot wounds.
It is the deadliest attack in Canada since 2020, when a gunman in Nova Scotia killed 13 people and set fires that killed nine others. School shootings are rare in Canada, which has strict gun control laws. The government has responded to previous mass shootings with gun control measures, including a recent expanded ban on all assault weapons.