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Canadian police responded to multiple shooting scenes and injured victims in the British Columbia city and town of Langley on Monday before the gunman was taken into custody.
Early this morning, Royal Canadian Mounted Police Langley said its officers responded to “multiple reports of shots fired involving multiple victims and multiple scenes throughout the City of Langley and one scene in the Township of Langley.”
“Out of an abundance of caution, an emergency alert was issued until investigators could confirm the suspect was acting alone,” police spokesman Sgt. Rebecca Parslow said in a statement. “The Langley RCMP, with the assistance of the Lower Mainland Emergency Response Team, arrested a man we believe is responsible for the shootings.”
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A police officer stands near a windshield and passenger window of an RCMP vehicle with bullet holes at the scene of a shooting in Langley, British Columbia, Monday, July 25, 2022. ( (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP))
At 7:20 a.m. local time, the police emergency alert was updated as investigators believe the sole suspect is in custody, Parslow said.
“This is an active investigation with several areas of the City of Langley and Township of Langley closed to the public,” he added. “We ask the public to stay out of the following areas: 200 Street and Langley Bypass; Cascades Casino parking lot located at Fraser Highway and 204 Street, Langley Bus Loop located at Logan Avenue and Glover Road.”
Parslow did not clarify the number of casualties or clarify whether there were any fatalities. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police did not immediately return a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
A purported screenshot of the alert shared on social media warned of “multiple shooting scenes downtown,” with one incident in Langley Township involving “transient casualties.”
The alert described the possible shooter as a Caucasian man with dark hair wearing a brown Carhartt jumpsuit and a blue and green camouflage T-shirt with a red logo on the right sleeve.
Police siren on cruiser (Philipp von Ditfurth/Picture Alliance via Getty Images)
Videos shared on social media also showed a heavy police presence in the city centre.
Langley is about 30 miles southeast of Vancouver.
The deadliest mass shooting in Canadian history took place in 2020 when a man dressed as a police officer shot people in their homes and set the entire province of Nova Scotia on fire, killing 22 people.
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The country overhauled its gun control laws after a gunman named Marc Lepine killed 14 women and himself in 1989 at Montreal’s Ecole Polytechnique. It is now illegal to possess an unregistered handgun or any type of rapid fire weapon in Canada. To buy a gun, the country also requires training, a personal risk assessment, two references, spousal notification and criminal background checks.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Danielle Wallace is a reporter for Fox News Digital covering politics, crime, police and more. Story tips can be sent to danielle.wallace@fox.com and on Twitter: @danimwallace.