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A gunman killed at least 16 people in a shooting in a rural community in Nova Scotia, Canada’s national broadcaster, which was among the worst mass killings in the country in recent memory, said on Sunday.
Police said the mass shooting, which began in the town of Portapique on Saturday night, ended approximately 12 hours later at a fuel station some 35 kilometers away in Enfield, north of Halifax, where the gunman died. . Police did not elaborate on how he died, although witnesses told local media that they heard gunshots before his death.
A police officer was among those killed, authorities said.
A photo of police Heidi Stevenson, one of the victims of the Nova Scotia shooting. Photography: Getty
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national broadcaster, citing Commissioner Brenda Lucki of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, said the figure of 16 did not include the gunman.
Authorities previously identified him as Gabriel Wortman (51).
A motive for the mass shooting was not immediately clear. Police said it did not start as a random act, but that the killings became random as the wave progressed.
The commissioner said the police did not view the killings as an act of terrorism. Authorities said Wortman, a Nova Scotia dentist, had a relationship with some of the victims and that the police did not know him.
Investigation
They said a line of investigation would be whether the coronavirus pandemic had anything to do with the murderous rampage.
Chief Superintendent Chris Leather, the officer responsible for criminal investigations by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police of Nova Scotia, said the episode began on Saturday night when police were called to a home, where bodies were discovered inside and outside of the residence.
He said a suspect was nowhere to be found. For the next 12 hours, the police chased Wortman across the province. Lucki said that the crime scene spread over an area of 50 km.
Chief Supt Leather said Wortman appeared to be dressed as a police officer and was driving a vehicle made to resemble an RCMP car.
The killings started late Saturday in the small Atlantic coastal town of Portapique, about 130 kilometers north of the provincial capital, Halifax. Map: Datawrapper
Authorities said Wortman later changed vehicles and was seen driving a silver Chevrolet Tracker in the Milford area. Authorities emphasized that he was not an RCMP employee.
The chief said that the bodies of the victims were discovered in multiple places and that several structures were set on fire. Lee Bergerman, the assistant commissioner, who appeared visibly shocked at a press conference Sunday, said the uproar would haunt Nova Scotia.
“Today is a devastating day for Nova Scotia and it will remain etched in the minds of many for years to come,” he said. During the search for Wortman, authorities warned residents that the gunman was armed and dangerous, and told them to stay inside.
Residents
The frightened residents closed their doors and many hid in their basements and stayed there overnight as news of the shooting spread through the united community.
Among the victims was Heidi Stevenson, a veteran RCMP officer and mother of two with 23 years of experience in the force.
Another police officer was injured. Stephen McNeil, the Prime Minister of Nova Scotia, said it was “one of the most senseless acts of violence in the history of our province” at a time when the province was already being hit by the coronavirus.
“For the families of the victims and for those who are still afraid, my heart is with you,” he said. “Know that all the Nova Scotians are with you.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada thanked the police for their work. “Our hearts go out to the people who have lost loved ones,” he said. Authorities said the riot was one of the worst in the province’s history.
Previous shootings
In July 2018, a man wielding a gun in Toronto walked down a busy street and randomly shot two people and wounded 13, before committing suicide. A year earlier, in late January, Canada was deeply moved when a political science student entered a mosque in Quebec City during prayers, killing six people and injuring many more.
One of the worst mass shootings in recent Canadian history occurred on December 6, 1989: Fourteen women were killed in a violent anti-feminist attack at the Ecole Polytechnique School of Engineering in Montreal. Fourteen others were wounded and the gunman committed suicide.
Canadians and residents of Nova Scotia, a province on the Atlantic coast known for its fishing industry, and Halifax, a port city, were shocked by the violence in a sleepy little rural area on Sunday.
Tom Taggart, a council member in Colchester, which includes Portapique, lives 2 miles from the rural community.
“It really is a country house,” he said Sunday, adding that the community housed between 50 and 60 residents and up to 200 during the summer. Like other residents, he said he had heard police updates Sunday about a gunman on the loose.
“It just escalated from there,” he said. “People live here because they are safe, we believe. This is not supposed to happen here. ” And he added: “These are real people who went to bed last night thinking that everything is another day and now things are fair.” I can not imagine. It’s tragic. “- New York Times
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