The suspect, camouflaged as a policeman, went on a 12- hour rampage, shooting people in their houses and setting fires.
Rob Gillies
Associated Press
TORONTO– Canadians on Monday grieved the shocking rampage that left 18 dead in a rural community in Nova Scotia, after a shooter camouflaged as a police officer opened fire on people hunkered down in their homes, setting many ablaze in the deadliest mass shooting in the nation’s history.
Authorities stated the suspect, identified as 51- year-old Gabriel Wortman, was also among the dead in the weekend attack. Police did not offer an intention for the killings.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the shooter killed at least 18 individuals over a big swath of northern Nova Scotia.
” The huge bulk of Nova Scotians will have a direct link with one more of victims. The entire province and country is grieving right now as we pertain to grips with something that is unthinkable,” Trudeau said.
” The pandemic will prevent us from mourning together in person, however a vigil will be held practically to celebrate the lives of the victims,” Trudeau stated, adding it would happen Friday night through a Facebook group.
Trudeau asked the media to prevent discussing the name of the foe or revealing his photo.
” Do not offer this individual the present of infamy,” he stated.
Cops started advising homeowners overnight Saturday in the rural town of Portapique, about 60 miles (100 kilometers) north of Halifax, to lock their doors and remain in their basements. The town, like all of Canada, had been adhering to government recommendations to stay in the house because of the coronavirus pandemic and the majority of the victims were inside their houses when the attack started.
Numerous bodies were later on discovered inside and outside one home on Portapique Beach Road, the street where the suspect lived, authorities stated.
Bodies were likewise discovered at several other places within about a 50- kilometer (30- mile) location from the area where the shootings began late Saturday, and authorities think the shooter might have targeted his first victims but then started attacking arbitrarily. Numerous houses in the location were set on fire.
At least 4 white forensic vans were seen Monday early morning entering the area where the shootings began.
Authorities said the believed gunman wore an authorities uniform at one point and made his car look like a Royal Canadian Installed Patrol car.
” That fact that this individual had a uniform and a police vehicle at his disposal definitely speaks with it not being a random act,” Mounted Police Chief Superintendent Chris Leather said. He stated many of the victims did not understand the shooter and authorities believe he acted alone.
According to his high school yearbook, Wortman long had a fascination with the Mounties.” Gabe’s future may including being an RCMP officer,” the yearbook profile stated.
The dead officer was recognized as Constable Heidi Stevenson, a mom of 2 and a 23- year veteran of the force. Another officer was wounded.
Likewise amongst the dead was school teacher Lisa McCully, who worked at a regional primary school.
2 health care workers at local retirement home were also among those killed, according to Von Canada, a long term health care business, which identified them as Heather O’Brien, a certified useful nurse, and Kristen Beaton, a continuing care assistant.
Wortman, who owned a denture practice in the city of Dartmouth, near Halifax, lived part-time in Portapique, according to residents of the town.
Authorities initially stated Wortman had been detained Sunday at a filling station in Enfield, outdoors Halifax, however later stated he had passed away. It was not clear how, and they did not supply further information, although one police authorities stated that there was an exchange of gunfire in between the suspect and authorities at one point.
Cpl. Lisa Croteau, a spokesperson with the provincial force, said authorities received a call about “a person with firearms” late Saturday night, and the investigation “developed into an active shooting investigation.”
Christine Mills, a resident of the area, said it had been a frightening night for the small town, with armed officers patrolling the streets.
Tom Taggart, a lawmaker who represents the Portapique area in the Municipality of Colchester, stated the quiet neighborhood has been shaken.
” This is just a definitely wonderful, serene quiet community and the idea that this might occur in our community is unbelievable,” Taggart stated. He stated he didn’t understand Wortman well, but talked to him a couple of times when he phoned about municipal problems and explained understanding Wortman’s “lovely huge home” on Portapique Beach Roadway.
Wortman is listed as a denturist– an individual who makes dentures– in the city of Dartmouth, near Halifax, according to the Denturist Society of Nova Scotia website. Atlantic Denture Clinic, the practice Wortman owned, was closed for the past month since of the coronavirus pandemic.
Leather, the authorities superintendent, said authorities were investigating whether the attack had anything to do with the coronavirus pandemic however no link has actually been found so far.
Mass shootings are reasonably rare in Canada.
It is prohibited to possess an unregistered handgun or any type of rapid-fire weapon in Canada. The nation also needs training, an individual threat assessment, two references, spousal notice and rap sheet checks to purchase a weapon.
A van attack two years ago in Toronto left 10 individuals dead and 16 wounded. The suspect, who drove his van on a busy Toronto walkway, said he performed the attack in retribution for several years of sexual rejection and ridicule by women, is awaiting trial.
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