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Canadian police have said they believe there were 22 victims after a gunman rampaged in rural Nova Scotia communities over the weekend.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said they have recovered remains of fires. Authorities previously said at least 18 people died in the 12-hour attack. The gunman also died.
Police said in a previous press release that they believed there were 23 victims, but spokesman Daniel Brien later clarified that the death toll included 22 victims and the gunman.
As fear grew that more victims would be found in burning houses, one young man said his grandparents had disappeared and believed they were dead after their log cabin caught fire during the attack.
Floral tributes left in Shubenacadie, Nova Scotia (Andrew Vaughan / The Canadian Press via AP)“/>Justin Zahl said he finally heard from the police after frenzied information calls and seeing images of his grandparents’ house in the rural town of Portapique burned to the ground, with their cars in the driveway.
However, it was not immediately clear if the remains that police said had been found Tuesday included those of his grandparents.
Police teams were spread across 16 locations in central and northern Nova Scotia, including the area where the 12-hour riot began Saturday night on Portapique Beach Road, where the suspect, Gabriel Wortman, lived.
Police warned that the death toll will surely increase as investigators review houses destroyed by fire.
Meanwhile, questions arose on Tuesday why a public emergency alert was not issued when the uproar occurred. Police provided updates from Twitter, but no alerts that would have automatically appeared on mobile phones.
Authorities said the suspect, identified as Wortman, 51, also died in the attack over the weekend. Authorities did not provide a motive for the killings.
Authorities said Wortman was wearing a police uniform and made his car look like a Royal Canadian Mounted Police cruiser, allowing him to easily travel within a 30-mile area around Portapique, where the riot began. A police officer was among those killed.
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