Canada grieves as names of first victims of worst mass shooting released

Grief and bewilderment spread across communities in Canada’s Atlantic Coast province of Nova Scotia as officials began releasing the names of some of the 18 victims of the country’s worst mass shooting on Monday.

The victims of the 12-hour shooting rampage by a gunman disguised as a policeman in central Nova Scotia included a female police officer, an elementary teacher, an elderly care nurse and a home care assistant.

• At least 17 people killed in worst mass shooting in Canada

The alleged perpetrator was also killed after cutting a swath of mayhem and destruction across nearly 100 kilometres of normally tranquil rural Nova Scotia on late Saturday and early Sunday.

Speaking at his daily briefing in Ottawa, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canadians were jolted from their efforts to defeat the pandemic “by the senseless violence and tragedy in Nova Scotia.”

Trudeau praised the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Const. Heidi Stevenson, a mother of two young children, who was killed by the gunman in the line of duty.

“Constable Stevenson died protecting others,” Trudeau said. “She was answering the call of duty, something she had done every day when she went to work for 23 years.”

The tragedy unfolded in small towns of Portapique, Truro, Milford, and Enfield where people know their neighbours and look out for each other, Trudeau said.

“Now these communities are in mourning and Canada is mourning with them,” Trudeau said.

Teacher, nurse, and home care assistant among victims

On Monday morning, the Nova Scotia Teachers Union identified one of the victims as Lisa McCully.

“9,300 NSTU hearts are broken along with those of her colleagues and students at Debert Elementary, as well as her family and friends who knew her not only as a passionate teacher but as a shining love in their lives,” Paul Wozney, president of the teachers union said in a statement.

The Victorian Order of Nurses (VON Canada) said two of its employees, Heather O’Brien and Kristen Beaton, were also killed in the rampage.

O’Brien was a licensed practical nurse (LPN), wife, mother and grandmother, VON president and CEO Jo-Anne Poirier said in a statement.

Beaton was a continuing care assistant, and a young wife and mother, she added.

“All of our frontline care providers are heroes. Yesterday, two of those heroes, Heather O’Brien and Kristen Beaton, were taken from their families, and from VON,” Poirier said. “We mourn their loss, and we mourn for their families.”

Searching for a motive

Police investigators were still searching for a motive in the crime, RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki, head of Canada’s national police force, said Sunday. The rampage doesn’t appear to be linked to terrorism, she added.

Lucki told CBC News that she believed the shooter had begun the attack with an initial “motivation” but later “turned to randomness.”

“We don’t know for sure, and we’re going to have to do a lot of work on finding the motivation — a lot of background, a lot of profiling-type events and a lot of crime scene processing,” Lucki told CBC News.

The RCMP will also be calling on their experts in forensics and criminal profiling, Lucki said.

“Whatever it takes so that we can give the families of the victims answers to the many questions that they probably have,” Lucki said.

RCMP officials in Nova Scotia said earlier on Sunday the investigation into the incident was ongoing and the number of victims could grow.

‘A quickly evolving situation’

RCMP Chief Supt. Chris Leather said police responded to multiple 911 calls on Saturday evening at a residence in the small rural community of Portapique, about 130 kilometres north of provincial capital of Halifax.

When police arrived at the scene they found several casualties inside and outside the home, he said.

The quickly evolving situation led the police officers to search multiple locations, Leather said. There were also multiple house fires, he added.

The RCMP dispatched heavily armed police officers and advised residents of the area to lock their doors and shelter in place.

‘Armed and dangerous’

Early Sunday morning police identified a 51-year-old resident of Dartmouth as the suspect in the “active shooter situation” with several victims, adding that he was considered armed and dangerous.

Leather confirmed that the gunman appeared to be wearing a RCMP uniform and driving a car resembling a RCMP police cruiser. Police said man is not employed by the RCMP.

“If you see him, call 911. DO NOT approach,” RCMP tweeted Sunday morning.

Finally, later Sunday morning the RCMP said the gunman was seen driving another vehicle, a silver Chevrolet Tracker SUV. He was confronted by police near a gas station about 35 kilometres north of Halifax in Enfield, around 11:40 am.

Leather said it is unclear whether he died in the shootout with police or took his own life.

The province’s Serious Incident Response Team (SIRT) said Sunday evening it was investigating the shooting of a man in Enfield by RCMP officers.

According to a release, the suspect was involved in a serious criminal event in Shubenacadie, N.S. A confrontation with police followed in Enfield, “resulting in officers discharging their firearms.”

The suspect was then found dead at the scene.

Trudeau urged the media to stop using the gunman’s name.

“Do not give this person the gift of infamy,” Trudeau said.

Prior to Sunday’s rampage in Nova Scotia, the worst mass shooting in Canada was the so-called Montreal Massacre, where a lone gunman killed 14 female engineering students at Montreal’s Ecole Polytechnique on Dec. 6, 1989.

With files from CBC News