RCMP have confirmed in excess of 19 deaths in relation to a mass shooting that shook Nova Scotia over the weekend.
At a press conference, Nova Scotia RCMP Chief Supt. Chris Leather said some of the victims, who were all adults, were known to the suspect and specifically targeted, while others were not known to him.
The 19 deaths include RCMP officer Const. Heidi Stevenson, Lisa McCully, a Debert Elementary Teacher, and VON nurses Heather O’Brien and Kristen Beaton.
“To the families and loved ones of all the victims, please accept my deepest condolences on the loss of your loved ones,” said Leather.
Another RCMP member, Chad Morrison, an 11-year veteran of the force, was injured during the rampage and is now recovering from gunshot wounds at home.
Leather noted police are still in the early stages of what he calls a complex investigation, and said many things are still unknown.
“We are working hard to find out as much information as possible in the days and weeks to come,” said Leather, “We will be in this for months to come, I am sure.”
He said members are working on 16 different crime scenes in Portapique and other communities in Central and Northern Nova Scotia, has teams searching for more potential victims and conducting interviews in those areas.
“We’re relatively confident we’ve identified all of the crime scenes,” said Leather.
“However we have been unable to examine all those crime scenes because, for instance, we’ve had five structure fires, most of those being residents, and we believe there may be victims still within the remains of those homes which burnt to the ground.”
He said that part of the investigation is still ongoing and expects the total of victims to rise in the coming days.
Two additional reports have been made to the Serious Incident Response Team in relation to the investigation, but Leather could not provide any details on what the reports were about or why they were referred to SIRT.
When asked how the RCMP found out about the shooter’s ‘mock’ police cruiser, Leather said the car had been reported to them early Sunday morning, but had also been discovered engulfed in flames along with another cruiser at the crime scene where Const. Stevenson had been found.
He said the car aided the shooter in remaining undetected.
“His ability to move about the province undetected was surely, greatly benefited by the fact that he had a vehicle that looked identical in every way to a marked police car,” said Leather.
“Beyond that, he was wearing a police uniform which as I said was either a very good fabrication of, or was actually a police uniform which truly contributed to his ability to circulate.”
He also noted they were not sure of the origin of the police uniform.
When asked how many others had been injured during the rampage, Leather said they are still trying to determine that, but would be releasing a timeline with specific locations and information on victims “in coming days.”
