Death toll in Canada's worst mass shooting rises to 19
The death toll from the worst mass shooting in Canadian history has risen to 19, with police saying they expect the number to grow.
- A police officer was among those killed in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia
- Police identified the gunman as 51-year-old Gabriel Wortman, who worked as a denturist
- There are at least 16 crime scenes, some of which were set on fire
The gunman, who at one point masqueraded as a policeman and also painstakingly disguised his car to look like a police cruiser, shattered the peace of a rural community in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia
during a 12-hour rampage that started late on Saturday (local time), authorities said.
"A gunman claimed the lives of at least 18 people, among them a woman in uniform whose job it is to protect lives even if it endangers her own," Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters. He was referring to veteran Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Constable Heidi Stevenson, who was killed in the shooting spree.
"It happened in small towns: Portapique, Truro, Milford and Enfield, places where people have deep roots, places where people know their neighbours and look out for one another," Mr Trudeau said. The RCMP identified the gunman as 51-year-old Gabriel Wortman, who worked as a denturist. Police are still searching for his motivation for the deadly rampage.In addition to the 19 victims, one RCMP officer was injured and is now recovering at home, the police union said.
The police said their investigation of the shootings would take months, and they had identified at least 16 crime scenes. "We're relatively confident we've identified all the crime scenes," Nova Scotia RCMP Chief Superintendent Chris Leather told reporters on Monday, but he added fires lit at some of those sites, mostly homes, made the search for other victims difficult.
"We believe there may be victims still within the remains of those homes which burnt to the ground," he said.
RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation on Sunday there was no indication the killings were linked to terrorism. Police also said there was no apparent link between the gunman and at least some of his victims.
Social distancing to slow the coronavirus outbreak and the subsequent lack of community memorials added "heartbreak on top of other heartbreaks," Mr Trudeau acknowledged.
"The pandemic will prevent us from mourning together in person, but a vigil will be held virtually to celebrate the lives of the victims," he said. He urged media organisations to avoid using the name and picture of the gunman. "Do not give him the gift of infamy. Let us instead focus all our intention and attention on the lives we lost and the families and friends who grieve," he said.
"This day is made all the more difficult because of the precious lives lost in the senseless act of one person. Just how could this happen? We may never know why, but we do know this: No one man's action can build a wall between us and a better day, no matter how evil, how thoughtless, or how destructive."
Police began advising residents overnight Saturday in the rural town of Portapique, about 100 kilometres north of Halifax, to lock their doors and stay in their basements. People in the town, like all Canadians, had been adhering to government advice to remain at home because of the coronavirus pandemic and most of the victims were inside their homes when the attack began.
Several bodies were later found inside and outside one home on Portapique Beach Road, the street where the suspect lived, authorities said. Bodies were also found at several other locations within about a 50-kilometre area from the neighbourhood where the shootings began. Authorities believe the shooter may have targeted his first victims but then began attacking randomly. Several homes in the area were set on fire.
Police initially said Wortman had been arrested at a gas station in Enfield, outside Halifax, but later said he had died.
It was not clear how, and they did not provide further details, although one police official said there was an exchange of gunfire bhttps://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-04-21/death-toll-in-canada-worst-mass-shooting-rises-trudeau-tribute/12167500etween the suspect and police at one point.
