Members of the remote community have spoken of their fear and uncertainty after nine people were killed.
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Members of the remote community, 415 miles (667 km) northeast of the western city of Vancouver, spoke of their fear and uncertainty during the school lockdown, as no-one appeared to be aware of the magnitude of what was unfolding.
They described how close the community of just 2500 people was, and how devastated it would be by what had happened.
"I will know every victim. I've been here 19 years, and we're a small community," town mayor Darryl Krakowka told Canadian broadcaster CBC.
"I don't call them residents. I call them family," he added.
Chris Norbury, a town councillor, was as close as anyone in Tumbler Ridge to the shooting. His wife teaches at the secondary school, his daughter attends the nearby elementary school and he works at the visitor centre just a block away.
Speaking to the BBC World Service's Newsday programme, he explained how scared and anxious he felt as he waited for news of his wife.
He first realised something was wrong when his daughter's school called him to say they were in lockdown. He was able to contact his wife, who was also under lockdown, but by the time he found out - from an emergency alert - that there was an active shooter, he was unable to contact her again.
"We just had to speculate and jump into social media to see what was going on - there was a lot of speculation... but being who I am I just wanted to stay calm as best I could and wait for the facts," Norbury said.
"It was terrifying, it's hard to put into words the dread and the fear that you feel knowing that a loved one is in danger," he said.
Meanwhile he was able to see emergency vehicles, including helicopters, coming and going from the school and a nearby medical centre.
Darian Quist, a grade 12 student at the school, was in a classroom with a teacher and about 15 students when the lockdown alarm s
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