By Thomas I. Likness
EBC Edmonton Bureau
EDMONTON (Eagle News) — The shooting rampage that left 22 people dead in Nova Scotia last weekend began after a fight between the gunman and his girlfriend, said RCMP Friday.
“The victim managed to escape from the gunman and she hid overnight in the woods,” said RCMP Superintendent Darren Campbell. “Following (the assault) police received its first 911 call with a report of a shooting at a home in the area.”
“That could have been a catalyst to this, however we’re open to all possibilities and we’re not excluding the possibility that there was any premeditated planning also involved,” Campbell added. “At the same time it was a significant incident, it was a significant assault and this individual female did manage to escape and that could very well have been the catalyst to start the chain of events.”
Over the next 13 hours, the gunman, 51-year-old Gabriel Wortman, went on a shooting rampage that spanned six communities and left 22 people dead.
Wortman was killed in a gun battle with police.
He was able to move freely through the region because he was driving a replica police car. Campbell said Wortman owned four such vehicles.
Police also examined the uniform the suspect was wearing.
“We have recovered those pieces and some of those pieces I can tell you are what appear to be discarded or old pieces of police uniform, RCMP uniform and also a piece of uniform from another agency as well,” said Campbell.
Wortman was armed with several guns including handguns and long-barreled weapons.
“We’ve been able to trace one of those weapons back to Canada and the remaining weapons that have been recovered, it’s believed that they were obtained in the United States,” said Campbell.
He could not say how guns were brought into Canada, adding Wortman also took a gun from the RCMP officer he killed.
The investigation has been hampered because Wortman’s house was destroyed by fire.
“The suspect’s residence in Portapique has been completely burned to the ground so our ability to recover certain evidence is limited,” said Campbell.
Campbell would not speculate on Wortman’s motives.
“What I would say is any crime against another person, normal people will have a very difficult time understanding it because we wouldn’t do such a thing,” said Campbell. “And trying to understand the mindset of an individual is sometimes a very difficult thing. We’ll do everything that we can to understand that but we are in the process of trying to unpack that and that will continue for a very long time.”
“So there are theories and there’s more than one theory and we’re conducting a systematic investigation into all of those theories and it’s our hope that we are able to uncover the true motives,” he added.
At his daily briefing Friday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau again said his government wants tougher gun legislation.
“We are looking at stronger gun control measures that will include things like red flag laws that will give people the capacity not just to remove guns but to prevent people from acquiring new guns if there are issues around domestic violence,” said Trudeau.
Trudeau paid tribute to the victims and urged all Canadians to support those grieving.
“I hope that many of you will join us and wear red today, in a show of solidarity,” he said. “Let’s come together to support these communities who suffered immeasurable loss.”
“Let’s celebrate the lives of those who left use too soon and et us remember the families, friends, loved ones whose absence will linger for years,” Trudeau concluded.
A virtual vigil is being livestreamed on Facebook Friday at 6:00 p.m. EDT.
(Eagle News Service)