More fatalities have been confirmed in the Nova Scotia mass shooting, bringing the toll to 17, including the gunman. Here’s what we know so far about the sickening attack, now deemed the deadliest in Canadian history.
The rampage began around 11:30pm Saturday night, when the Royal Canadian Mounted Police responded to a “firearms complaint” in the rural town of Portapique and found an unspecified number of casualties at the scene, but no suspect.
Police declared an active shooter situation and launched a manhunt, with armed officers patrolling the streets through the night and helicopters joining the search in the morning.
The lone suspect was identified as Gabriel Wortman, 51, a part-time resident of Portapique who was also listed as a denturist and owned several properties in Dartmouth, Halifax.
51-year-old Gabriel Wortman is the suspect in our active shooter investigation in #Portapique. There are several victims. He is considered armed & dangerous. If you see him, call 911. DO NOT approach. He’s described as a white man, bald, 6’2-6’3 with green eyes. pic.twitter.com/Y2nJNULlkn
— RCMP, Nova Scotia (@RCMPNS) April 19, 2020
He made his car look like a Royal Canadian Mounted Police cruiser and wore a police uniform, which indicates the attack wasn’t totally spontaneous.
Police have taped off this denture clinic on Portland Street in #Dartmouth, believed to be owned by Gabriel Wortman, the suspect in a shooting investigation that began near #Portapique, #NS last night. @globalhalifax pic.twitter.com/9YLQozpLHm
— Ashley Field (@AshleyJVField) April 19, 2020
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While his initial motive remains unclear, authorities believe the attacker knew and may have targeted his first victims, but then began attacking complete strangers randomly.
#Colchester: Gabriel Wortman may be driving what appears to be an RCMP vehicle & may be wearing an RCMP uniform. There's 1 difference btwn his car and our RCMP vehicles: the car #. The suspect's car is 28B11, behind rear passenger window. If you see 28B11 call 911 immediately. pic.twitter.com/yyeOeBt8Ui
— RCMP, Nova Scotia (@RCMPNS) April 19, 2020
The chase for the suspect, who changed vehicles at least once, went along one of Nova Scotia province’s busiest highways and ended near a gas station 35 kilometers north of Halifax around noon Sunday.
Seeing that #RCMP arrested the #Portapique shooting suspect at a truck stop in Enfield.
This means Wortman travelled almost 100 km across the province before his arrest, and was less than 30 minutes away from reaching Halifax. pic.twitter.com/6Al8mwX4bf
— Victoria Walton (@victorialwalton) April 19, 2020
Following a gunfight with police, the gunman was “detained” but soon proclaimed “deceased,” authorities said, sharing no further details.
Police in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia arrested a 51-year-old gunman suspected of shooting several people https://t.co/uw3x3oCBT1 pic.twitter.com/Ld3g47Vy3H
— Reuters (@Reuters) April 19, 2020
Const. Heidi Stevenson, a 23-year veteran of the RCMP and mother of two, was killed responding to the active shooter incident, while another RCMP officer is in the hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
She played rugby against my sister in Nova Scotia where everyone is salt of the earth and connected. She was a mom. She was an incredible officer. She is Heidi Stevenson. Pray for her family.💔 pic.twitter.com/Z7g3Wo2HzP
— Angie Poirier (@AngiePoirier) April 19, 2020
At least 15 more people, besides the attacker and the officer, lost their lives, but their identities were not revealed. One of the victims was informally identified by her sister as Lisa McCully, an elementary school teacher and a volunteer at the Berwick bible camp.
An airplane just flew the outline of a heart around Portapique. pic.twitter.com/nZEGv0OiSe
— Allister Aalders (@allistercanada) April 19, 2020
The Nova Scotia massacre has become the deadliest mass killing in the history of Canada, overshadowing the 1989 mass shooting at Montreal’s Ecole Polytechnique college, which led to tighter gun controls. Earlier, authorities warned that there might be even more victims as the investigation is ongoing and involves “multiple” crime scenes, some with “structures on fire.”
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