A gunman disguised as a policeman killed at least 18 people, before he was shot dead by police following the weekend’s 12-hour shooting spree across rural Nova Scotia, on Canada’s Atlantic Coast, marking the country’s worst mass shooting, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) said Monday.
Speaking at a press conference in Dartmouth, RCMP Chief Supt. Chris Leather said police expect the number of victims to grow as they continue to examine some of the 16 crime scenes in the community of Portapique and across parts of northern and central Nova Scotia.
“We’re relatively confident we’ve identified all the crime scenes, however, we’ve been unable to fully examine the crime scenes because, for instance, we have had five structure fires – most of those being residences – and we believe there may be victims still within the remains of those homes, which burnt to the ground,” Leather said.
“That part of the investigation is still ongoing and speaks to the fact why we don’t have a final total because we expect that to rise in the coming days.”
16 crime scenes
An RCMP investigator inspects a house destroyed by fire at the residence of Alanna Jenkins and Sean McLean, both corrections officers, in Wentworth Centre, N.S. on Monday, April 20, 2020. A neighbour, Tom Bagley, was also killed on the property. Police say at least 19 people are dead, including RCMP Const. Heidi Stevenson, after a man, driving a restored police car, went on a murder spree in several Nova Scotia communities. Alleged killer Gabriel Wortman, 51, was shot and killed by police. (Andrew Vaughan/THE CANADIAN PRESS)
Const. Heidi Stevenson, who had served with the RCMP for 23 years, was killed by the gunman on the line of duty, Leather said.
Another RCMP officer, Const. Chad Morrison, was injured in the gunfight with the shooter but has now been discharged from hospital and is recovering at home, Leather said.
The victims of the gunman include adult men and women, he added.
“It appears that some of the victims were known to the suspect and others were targeted and not known to the suspect,” Leather said.
Police will provide a timeline with specific locations of the crimes in the coming days, he added.
“We have teams working on several aspects of the investigation,” Leather said.
Police watchdog investigates RCMP use of force
Workers with the medical examiner’s office remove a body from a gas bar in Enfield, N.S. on Sunday, April 19, 2020. (Andrew Vaughan/THE CANADIAN PRESS)
The RCMP has referred the death of the suspect to Nova Scotia’s independent police watchdog that investigates the instances of police use of force, Leather said.
The province’s Serious Incident Response Team (SIRT) is also investigating two other separate cases of RCMP members using force, Leather said, without specifying what those instances were or commenting whether those incidents could have involved injury or death of bystanders due to police action.
Other people may have been injured in the shooting spree but police are still trying to confirm that information, Leather said.
The gunman was not only dressed in police uniform but was also initially driving a car that was an exact replica of an actual RCMP cruiser, Leather said.
The mock police cruiser was reported to the RCMP early in the morning on Sunday and was discovered at the crime scene that involved the killing of Const. Stevenson, Leather said.
“And that vehicle was one of the two vehicles that were then fully engulfed in flames,” Leather said.
No additional suspects or threat
An RCMP investigator inspects vehicles destroyed by fire at the residence of Alanna Jenkins and Sean McLean, both corrections officers, in Wentworth Centre, N.S. on Monday, April 20, 2020. (Andrew Vaughan/THE CANADIAN PRESS)
Police still don’t know the origin of the uniform worn by the suspect, he added.
“But we certainly have a reason to believe that they were either actual uniforms or very good facsimiles of thereof,” Leather said.
The combination of wearing the police uniform and driving an exact replica of the police cruiser was one of the factors that may have allowed the suspect to move around the province undetected for such a long time, he said.
Police are not looking for any other suspects, he said.
“We do not believe that there is an additional threat related to this particular investigation for the public,” Leather added.
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