An armed man killed at least 16 people, including a policewoman, for a reason still unknown on the night of Saturday to Sunday in Nova Scotia (Canada), in the worst massacre of its kind in Canada.
51-year-old man, dental technician according to the media, was killed during his arrest after a vast dozen-hour manhunt throughout the eastern province from Canada, police said.
Gabriel Wortman notably traveled in a car similar to that of the police, wearing at least part of a police uniform. He sowed death in several places, under circumstances and for a still mysterious reason which shocked the country, where mass shootings are rare.
National head of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP, federal police), Brenda Lucki, told several channels that the death toll was at least 13 dead, before announcing a new death toll of at least 13 16 dead, in addition to the killer, according to the public channel CBC.
Gabriel Wortman’s motivations have yet to be clarified by the investigation. “It’s too early to talk about motivation“Nova Scotia federal police criminal investigation officer Chris Leather said in a press briefing,”more than 10 dead“.
Several victims “do not appear to be related to the shooter“, he noted. But”the fact that this individual had a uniform and a police car certainly suggests that it was not a spontaneous act“.
The killing began late Saturday evening in the small rural community of Portapique, a town about a hundred kilometers from the capital Halifax. Several victims were found in front of and inside a house where police were called after reports of gunfire.
The alleged perpetrator fled when the police arrived, sparking a dozen hour-long manhunt across the province. Local residents have been asked to stay at home by the authorities.
The man fled in several vehicles, one of which looked like a police car. He was also wearing several elements of a police uniform, the spokesman confirmed.
Gabriel Wortman was arrested on Sunday morning in circumstances which have not been specified. “The pursuit ended this morning when the suspect was located. I can confirm that he is dead“said Leather.
A policewoman was killed on Sunday and a policeman was injured, the police said.
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Orthodontics
According to local media reports, Wortman owned an orthodontic practice in Dartsmouth, near Halifax. Police said they would try to determine if the massacre had anything to do with the coronavirus epidemic, which resulted in the closure of non-essential activities across the country.
This massacre, which has not been finalized, is already the worst that Canada has ever known in its history.
On December 6, 1989, a man shot 14 women at the École Polytechnique de Montréal before killing himself, causing what was then the worst mass killing – and the first feminicide in the history of the country.
On April 23, 2018 in Toronto, the driver of a rental van killed eight women and two men whom he had intentionally struck on a sidewalk in a downtown artery.
“It was with great sadness that I learned of the senseless violence that took place in Nova Scotia and claimed the lives of many, including that of a member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP)“Prime Minister Justin Trudeau responded in a statement.
The Prime Minister of Nova Scotia, Stephen McNeil, has denounced “one of the most insane acts of violence in the history of our province“, who lives mainly from logging and fishing, and one of the least populated in the country – with ten – with less than a million inhabitants.
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