At least 16 people were killed in a killing spree in Nova Scotia. The carnage is said to have been planned.
A few hours later, Canada’s chief police officer, Brenda Lucki, spoke of at least 13 deaths on the CBC station. A long-time policewoman is among the victims. The 51-year-old was stopped by the police on Sunday afternoon after a long chase at a gas station. He was killed in the process, Leather said.
Several bodies in one house
The investigation into this “tragic incident” was at an early stage, the police officer said. In one fell swoop, the lives of many families and victims have changed forever. Visibly concerned, he spoke of a “chaotic” scene that the police officers would have had in a small town on Saturday night.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police received an emergency call for evidence of an armed attacker in the small village of Portapique. They would have found several bodies in one house and on the surrounding property, no trace of the perpetrator. This led to a 12-hour crime hunt across Nova Scotia. Victims were found at several crime scenes in the Atlantic province. In some places, fires were set on property.
Rampages are rare in Canada
Initially, the investigators did not provide any information about the shooter’s motive. According to Leather, there are many indications that the suspect was planning the carnage, but also killing people he did not know. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke of an act of “senseless violence” on Sunday evening.
Eyewitnesses reported howling sirens, shots and other moments of horror. The police had asked residents to stay in their homes and lock their doors. The authorities meanwhile warned of a shooter who might be wearing a police uniform and was traveling with a vehicle that looked like a patrol car. Leather later confirmed that the man had actually tried to disguise himself as a police officer.
Unlike in the neighboring country USA, the gun laws in Canada are comparatively strict. The worst killing spree so far occurred in Canada in 1989, when 25-year-old Marc Lepine shot 14 women at a college in Montreal and injured 13 more before taking his own life. In one letter, he named his hatred of feminists as the motive.
