Canada La Loche school shooter sentenced to life in prison

An RCMP vehicle outside the school where the shooting took place in January 2016

A young Canadian man who killed four people and injured seven others in a mass shooting in La Loche, Saskatchewan has been sentenced to life in prison.

He will not be eligible for parole for 10 years, according to Canadian media reports.

The man pleaded guilty to two counts of first degree murder, two counts of second degree murder and seven counts of attempted murder in October 2016.

He was 17 at the time of the shooting and his name is under publication ban.

In February, a judge ruled he would be sentenced as an adult, deeming a youth sentence inappropriate in this case.

On 22 January, 2016 the shooter killed two brothers, Dayne Fontaine, 17, and Drayden, 13, in their home in La Loche, Saskatchewan.

He then went to the La Loche Community School, killing teacher Adam Wood, 35, and 21-year-old teaching assistant Marie Janvier, and wounding seven others.

"I want to apologise to my family," the young man told the courtroom on Tuesday, according to Global News.

"I also want to apologise to each and every one of my victims and everyone else in La Loche who are affected by my actions."

La Loche Mayor Robert St Pierre told reporters gathered outside the courthouse that his small community is still grieving and is also still waiting for education, housing, health and infrastructure support promised by various levels of government for the town in the wake of the tragedy.

La Loche is a Dene community of about 3,000 people, located nearly 900km (560 miles) north of the provincial capital, Regina.