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Canada shooting: more than 19 fatalities in rural Canada

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A 51-year-old man went on a shooting rampage across the northern part of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia Sunday, killing at least 10 people, including a policewoman. Officials said the suspected shooter was also dead.

The man was identified as Gabriel Wortman and authorities said he disguised himself as a police officer in uniform at one point and mocked up a car to make it seem like a Royal Canadian Mounted Police cruiser.

He was arrested by the RCMP in a gas station in Enfield, Nova Scotia, northwest of downtown Halifax. Police later announced that he had died.

“In excess of 10 people have been killed,” RCMP Chief Superintendent Chris Leather said. “We believe it to be one person who is responsible for all the killings and that he alone moved across the northern part of the province and committed what appears to be several homicides.”

Leather said they don’t have a final death count.

“It almost certainly will be more than 10. How much more than 10, I do not know,” he said.

Brian Sauvé, President of National Police Federation union, said a police officer was among those killed in a shooting and another was injured.

The dead officer was identified as Const. Heidi Stevenson, a mother of two and a 23-year-old veteran of the force.

Police have not provided a motive for the attack. He said many of the victims did not know the shooter.

“That fact that this individual had a uniform and a police car at his disposal certainly speaks to it not being a random act,” Leather said.

Leather said they would investigate whether it had anything to do with the coronavirus pandemic. “We have not yet determined whether there is any link to the COVID-19 crisis,” he said.

He said at point there was an exchange of gunfire between the suspect and police.

There were half a dozen police vehicles at the scene of a gas station where the suspect was shot. Yellow police tape surrounded the gas pumps, and a large silver-colored SUV was being investigated.

The incident started in the small, rural town of Portapique, with police advising residents to lock their homes and stay in their basements.

Police found many dead inside and outside the home of the first scene.

Several structures were on fire in the area as well.

“This is one of the most senseless acts of violence in our province’s history,” said Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil. He said it was an additional “heavy burden” amid efforts to contain the new coronavirus.

Mass shootings are relatively rare in Canada. Canada overhauled its gun-control laws after the country’s worst mass shooting in 1989, when gunman Marc Lepine killed 14 women and himself at Montreal’s Ecole Polytechnique college. It is now illegal to possess an unregistered handgun or any kind of rapid-fire weapon. Canada also requires training, a personal risk assessment, two references, spousal notification and criminal record checks.

Police stated earlier Sunday the suspect in Sunday’s shootings was driving a car that looked like a police vehicle and wearing a police uniform, but later said he was “believed to be driving a small, silver Chevrolet SUV.” They said he is not an RCMP employee or officer.

Cpl. Lisa Croteau, a spokeswoman with the provincial force, said police received a call about “a person with firearms” at around 10:30 p.m. Saturday and the investigation “evolved into an active shooting investigation.”

“My heart goes out to everyone affected in what is a terrible situation,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said.

Christine Mills, a resident of the town, said it had been a frightening night for the small town, with armed officers patrolling the streets. In the morning, helicopters flew overhead searching for the suspect.

“I feel better now to know he’s in custody,” Mills said. “It’s nerve-wracking because you don’t know if somebody has lost their mind and is going to beat in your front door.”

Tom Taggart, a lawmaker who represents the Portapique area in the Municipality of Colchester, said the quiet community has been shaken.

“This is just an absolutely wonderful, peaceful quiet community and the idea that this could happen in our community is unbelievable,” Taggart said by phone from his home in Bass River, near the lockdown area.

A Gabriel Wortman is listed as a denturist in Dartmouth, according to the Denturist Society of Nova Scotia website. A suspect photo issued by the RCMP matches video footage of a man being interviewed about dentures by CTV Atlantic in 2014.

Mills also said that Wortman was known locally as a denturist who divided his time between a residence in Halifax and a residence in Portapique.

Taggart said he didn’t know Wortman well, but spoke to him a few times when he telephoned about municipal issues.

Taggart described knowing Wortman’s “lovely big home” on Portapique Beach Road. He said Wortman owned a few other properties and was believed to divide his time between Portapique and his business in Dartmouth.

https://apnews.com/7c9a33ae52420e0d...Twitter&utm_campaign=SocialFlow&utm_medium=AP
 
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Gun culture is deeply rooted in North America

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The Royal Canadian Mounted Police says a 51-year-old man has shot and killed at least 10 people in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia</p>— Sky News Breaking (@SkyNewsBreak) <a href="https://twitter.com/SkyNewsBreak/status/1251985329164357632?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 19, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
 
Terrrorism or another stressed out white man who was a good man?

You know what's ironic, that part of Canada got a lot of Syrian refugees and racists were fearmongering about how they were a threat to them yet today the worst terrorist attack in their history was done by a White man aka "old stock" Canadian.
 
You know what's ironic, that part of Canada got a lot of Syrian refugees and racists were fearmongering about how they were a threat to them yet today the worst terrorist attack in their history was done by a White man aka "old stock" Canadian.

Poor chap must have a had a tough time recently, it's still the Syrians we should watch out for - Trump fans
 
Canada shooting: Gunman kills at least 16 in rural Canada

A gunman who dressed as a policeman killed at least 16 people, including a female police officer, in the province of Nova Scotia, Canadian police say.

The 12-hour rampage ended in a car chase. The attacker is also dead.

Residents in the rural town of Portapique had been advised to lock themselves indoors after the attack began on Saturday.

Police earlier said the suspect was driving what appeared to be a police car.

The gunman shot people in several locations across Nova Scotia which meant authorities were still trying to establish the final death toll, police said on Sunday.

The police warned that there may be more victims.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police Constable (RCMP) Heidi Stevenson, who had served in the force for 23 years, was among those killed.

"Heidi answered the call of duty and lost her life while protecting those she served," Nova Scotia RCMP Commanding Officer, Assistant Commissioner Lee Bergerman said in a Facebook post.

"Two children have lost their mother and a husband his wife. Parents lost their daughter and countless others lost an incredible friend and colleague," Commissioner Bergerman said.

RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki said she believed the gunman had an initial "motivation" at the beginning that "turned to randomness", according to CBC News.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau described it as "a terrible situation" and Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil told reporters "this is one of the most senseless acts of violence in our province's history."

Police say they were first alerted to an incident involving firearms late on Saturday.

Tweets by Nova Scotia police identified the alleged attacker as 51-year-old Gabriel Wortman.

He was not employed by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police but "may be wearing a RCMP uniform", they said.

"There's one difference between his car and our Royal Canadian Mounted Police vehicles: the car # [registration plate]. The suspect's car is 28B11, behind rear passenger window. If you see 28B11 call 911 immediately," they tweeted on Sunday.

The gunman later changed cars to drive a "small silver Chevrolet SUV", police added.

The police provided no details about how the suspected gunman died.

Mass shootings are relatively rare in Canada where gun ownership laws are stricter than in the neighbouring United States.

In 2019, two fugitive teenagers confessed to killing three people, including an Australian-US couple on holiday, in northern British Columbia.

In 1989, a college shooting in Quebec left 14 women dead after the killer sent all the men out of the classroom and opened fire.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-52346447
 
Where are our Canadian posters? Does this not matter?

This attack was horrible but it happened in rural Nova Scotia. That province doesn't get that much attention.

Also, people are probably too busy with worrying about COVID-19.
 
It has surely caught everyone by surprise. The deadliest in Canadian history.

RIP to all innocent people who lost lives.
 
This attack was horrible but it happened in rural Nova Scotia. That province doesn't get that much attention.

Also, people are probably too busy with worrying about COVID-19.
I am surprised how did he find 10 people to kill in a rural cammunity during lockdown
 
This place is near the Maine area (a very depressing place to live in with rampant opiod ods)

No wonder people are not talking about it cause no one knows where it is
 
A gunman disguised as a policeman killed at least 18 people, including a female Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) officer, in the worst mass shooting in Canada's modern history.

The 12-hour rampage started late on Saturday and ended with a car chase.

Police said the suspect shot people at different locations in Nova Scotia, many of them randomly. He was killed in a confrontation with police.

He was reported to have been driving what looked like a police car.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau described the attack as "a tragedy".

"Violence of any kind has no place in Canada. We stand with you and we grieve with you," he said, addressing the nation on Monday.

Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil told reporters this was "one of the most senseless acts of violence in our province's history".

What do we know about what happened?

At about 23:32 local time on Saturday (02:32 GMT on Sunday), the RCMP said officers were responding to a "firearms complaint" at a home in the small town of Portapique and advised residents to lock themselves indoors.

The officers found "several casualties" inside and outside the home, but did not find the suspect.

A neighbour told CBC News that he saw three properties were also on fire in the area at the time.

At 08:54 on Sunday, the RCMP said there was an "active shooter investigation" and that there were several victims. It identified the suspect as 51-year-old Gabriel Wortman, who owned three properties in Portapique.

RCMP officers continued pursuing Mr Wortman for hours, following a series of crime scenes that police said were "scattered across the province" and which they are still working to piece together.

Mr Wortman was later seen in the Glenholme and Debert areas, east of Portapique, driving what the appeared to be an RCMP vehicle and possibly wearing an RCMP uniform.

"There's one difference between his car and our Royal Canadian Mounted Police vehicles: the car # [registration plate]. The suspect's car is 28B11, behind rear passenger window. If you see 28B11, call 911 immediately," the force tweeted.

Mr Wortman then changed cars and was seen driving southbound along on Highway 102 from the Brookfield area in a silver Chevrolet Tracker, according to the RCMP.

At 11:40, the RCMP said that Mr Wortman had been taken into custody.

It later emerged that he was killed after being intercepted by officers at a petrol station in Enfield, about 92km south of Portapique. Witnesses reported seeing a body lying on the ground.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-52346447
 
Nova Scotia is beautiful. What was the motive of this mass killing?
 
Police in Canada have announced that "in excess of 19" people are now known to have been killed in a mass shooting in Nova Scotia - and that it appears some were "known to the suspect".
 
Policewoman, teacher and nurse among victims of Canada mass shooting

Families across Canada struggled on Monday to come to grips with the deadliest shooting rampage in the country’s history, in which the victims included a veteran police officer, a teacher and a nurse.

Constable Heidi Stevenson had spent about 23 years as an officer with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and was a participant in the annual Musical Ride. She was among at least 19 people killed, including the gunman, in the weekend massacre in the Atlantic province of Nova Scotia.

Stevenson had grown up in Nova Scotia, said Brian Sauve, president of the National Police Association, and left behind her husband, Dean, who is a high school teacher, and two children, a girl and a boy aged 10 and 13.

She had “an infectious personality, a fantastic smile, was full of life, loved what she did,” Sauve told Reuters.

On Monday, over 150 police and members of the community gathered for a somber procession as Stevenson’s body left the office of the province’s chief medical examiner, with most RCMP officers in uniform standing to attention, 6 feet (1.8 m) apart on both sides of the road in keeping with social distancing guidelines amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Elementary school teacher Lisa McCully was also among those fatally shot. She was remembered as someone who went beyond reading, writing and arithmetic, said Nova Scotia Teachers Union President Paul Wozney.

“She was someone who taught the virtues of education to her kids, someone who taught kids how to become people they valued being,” he said.

The Nova Scotia Nurses’ Union was also mourning the loss of Heather O’Brien, one of its members.

“An unthinkably cruel event has shaken us to our core,” the union’s president, Janet Hazelton, posted on Facebook on Sunday.

“Gone is a co-worker, friend and cherished family member. ... She is remembered by her daughter Darcy as kind and beautiful, saying that her mom loved being a nurse.”

O’Brien was “the picture of unconditional love,” Kelly McLean Langille, her friend of over 25 years, told Reuters. “I’ve never met anyone before or since who had such an empathy for her family, community and the people in it.

“We were all worried she may be exposed to the deadly virus, not a deadly mass murderer.”

Calgarian Tammy Oliver-McCurdie organized an online fundraiser for the cross-country funerals of her baby sister, Jolene Oliver, Jolene’s husband, Aaron Tuck, and their daughter, Emily Tuck, who were among the victims.

“My sister loved poetry and books, she was the youngest of three and we picked on her often ... for fun. She laughed lots. She was super fun and enjoyed the beauty in life,” Oliver-McCurdie wrote online.

“Emily was 17, played fiddle, was into welding and fixing vehicles with her dad. Aaron was amazing at fixing cars and stuff. Had a great mechanical mind. Fixed and made things out of leather as a trade. Loved music, records to be exact.”

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...victims-of-canada-mass-shooting-idUSKBN222300
 
A national virtual vigil will be held this week to honour the victims of Canada's deadliest shooting, which unfolded in Nova Scotia as the province was locked-down due to coronavirus.

Virus restrictions continue and authorities said they would not be lifted to allow public gatherings to mourn victims.

At least 18 people were shot dead by a gunman during a 12-hour weekend rampage.

The gunman was killed by police.

Who were the victims?
In the weeks leading up to her death, Heather O'Brien was busy caring for the elderly during the provincial-wide lockdown.

"First day off after 6 back tomorrow. First day I allowed myself to relax an inch," she wrote on her Facebook page on 9 April.

"My small space in life is marching on. I know atm [at the moment] all I love and cherish are ok. I am truly blessed."

Ten days later, Ms O'Brien would be killed near her hometown of Debert, Nova Scotia when a gunman disguised as a policeman killed at least 18 people, burning several buildings before dying in a shoot-out with police.

Ms O'Brien's daughter Darcy Dobson said on Facebook that "a monster" murdered her mother.

"The pain comes and goes in waves. I feel like I'm outside of my own body. This can't be real. At 9:59 am she sent her last text message to our family group chat. By 10:15 she was gone," she wrote Sunday evening, about ten hours after her mother was killed.

Ms Dobson said she wants "everyone to remember how kind she was" and how much she loved being a nurse and a grandmother, not "the horrible way that she died".

Ms O'Brien had continued to work on the front lines during the Covid-19 pandemic, as a home-care nurse with the non-profit Victorian Order of Nurses (VON), with whom she had been employed for 17 years. Another VON employee, Kristen Beaton, was also killed during the shooting.

Ms Beaton, worked for VON as a continuing care assistant and had been on the job when she was killed, according to her neighbour Penny Marchbank.

She was married and had a young child.

"Kristen Beaton however will live on with all of the wonderful things she has done in her short lifetime and the thousands of lives she has effected in so many loving and wonderful ways," her neighbour said on Facebook.

VON president and CEO Jo-Anne Poirier told the BBC: "All of our frontline care providers are heroes. Yesterday, two of those heroes, Heather O'Brien and Kristen Beaton, were taken from their families, and from VON. We mourn their loss, and we mourn for their families".

Constable Heidi Stevenson, who had served in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police force for 23 years, was on duty when she was killed.

"Constable Stevenson died protecting others, she was answering the call of duty, something she had been doing with the RCMP for 23 years," Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Monday during his daily press briefing.

"With unwavering courage & compassion, the RCMP patrol these roads to keep us safe as they have for hundreds of years."

Jenny Kierstead confirmed on Facebook that her sister, Lisa McCully, a mother of two, was also one of the victims.

McCully had been a school teacher at Debert Elementary School, according to the school's website.

"Our hearts are broken today as we attempt to accept the loss of my sister, Lisa McCully, who was one of the victims of the mass shooting in Portapique last night," she wrote on Facebook.

"Our condolences go out to the other family members who are affected by this tragedy. Thank you for your support, it's a hard day."

Not all the victims - all adult men and women, according to police - have been named.

The CBC reported that correctional officer Sean McLeod and his partner Alanna Jenkins were among the victims.

An online fundraiser has been set up to help pay for the funeral costs of a family of three, Jolene Oliver her husband Aaron (Friar) Tuck and their daughter Emily Tuck.

Ms Oliver's sister Tammy Oliver-McCurdie began the fundraiser, and says her niece was 17 years old, played the fiddle and enjoyed fixing cars with her dad.

Married couple Jamie Blair and Greg Blair were killed Sunday, according to a relative.

"My family has been through so much, no one should have ever had to deal with this. I love you both so much, & sending all my love to my family & every other families who lost someone today," said Jessica MacBurnie on Facebook.

The Globe and Mail reported that Corrie Ellison, a social worker worker in his 40s, was also among the victims.

Charlene Bagley said her father, Tom Bagley, died while checking in on an explosion that was allegedly caused by the gunmen.

"He died trying to help, which if you knew him, you knew that was just who he was all the time. I know he meant something to so many people," she said on Facebook.

What do authorities know about the shooting?

The deadliest shooting in modern Canadian history unfolded over 12 hours at the weekend, beginning on Saturday near the rural town of Portapique.

Little is known about what motivated the suspected shooter, 51-year-old Gabriel Wortman, or how he chose his victims.

At about 23:32 on Saturday (02:32 GMT on Sunday), officers responded to a "firearms complaint" at a home and advised residents to lock themselves indoors.

The officers found "several casualties" inside and outside the home, but did not find the suspect.

A neighbour told CBC News that he saw three properties were also on fire in the area at the time.

The gunman was identified on Sunday after carrying out shootings over a series crime scenes that police said were "scattered across the province".

Authorities are in the early stages of the "extremely complex investigation", said Chief Superintendent of the Nova Scotia RCMP Chris Leather.

Including the suspect, there are some 19 victims across 16 crime scenes, including five structure fires, Mr Leather said on Monday.

"We believe there may be victims within the remains of those homes which burned to the ground," Mr Leather said.

Some victims were known to the suspect but others were selected at random, Mr Leather said, though he would not elaborate on the nature of these relationships.

At some points in the 12-hour rampage, the suspect travelled in a car made to look like an RCMP cruiser. The replica looked "identical in every way" to an authentic one, Mr Leather said.

He also wore an RCMP uniform, either an "actual uniform or very good facsimiles", he said.

"The fact that this individual had a uniform and a police car at his disposal certainly speaks to it not being a random act."

RCMP officials say more victims may be identified in the remains of some of the burnt-out buildings.

Due to provincial restrictions on public gatherings put in place to stop the spread of Covid-19, there can be no mass public vigil.

Instead, a national online vigil will be held on Friday evening, which Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he will attend virtually.

"As we learn more about what happened yesterday, it important that we come together to support communities," he said Monday.

Mr Trudeau said that his Liberal party was "on the verge" of introducing bans to assault style weapons before parliament was dissolved amid the coronavirus outbreak.

"We have every intention of moving forward", once the outbreak is curbed, he said.

The White House sent condolences from US President Donald Trump.

"The United States and Canada share a special, enduring bond," a statement read.

"As friends and neighbours, we will always stand with one another through our most trying times and greatest challenges. The United States strongly condemns these murders, and our prayers are with the victims and their families."

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-52358587
 
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Its strange that at such a time when there is so much tragedy around, someone still goes and inflicts so much pain on his own
 
Police hunt for motive as Canada's worst mass shooting death toll rises to 23

Canadian police were yet to determine a motive for the country’s worst mass shooting, as the death toll from the 13-hour carnage over the weekend climbed to 23 from 19, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) said on Tuesday.

The RCMP had said on Monday it expected the number of victims to increase as it investigates the 16 crime scenes in the Atlantic province of Nova Scotia that were part of the spree of murders, several of which included burnt-out homes.

The gunman, 51-year-old Gabriel Wortman, who at one point masqueraded as an RCMP officer and disguised his car to look like a police cruiser, shattered the peace of rural communities during a rampage that started late on Saturday, authorities said on Sunday.

He was shot by police at noon on Sunday. Police did not say if he was counted among the 23 dead.

The youngest among those killed was 17 years old, police said on Tuesday. Some of the victims were known to the gunman but others were not. A veteran police officer, a teacher and a nurse were among the dead.

Police said on Tuesday they had information that other members of the public were injured.

The RCMP said in a statement on Tuesday that the gunman had been wearing an authentic police uniform. His appearance as a legitimate officer has been credited with easing his movement around the province during the shooting spree.

“The investigative team is focused on learning more about this very tragic situation, including accurate victim information and whether others may have aided the suspect,” the RCMP statement said.

Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil told a news conference on Tuesday that Canada’s attorney general told him the military was assisting in the RCMP’s investigation.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...shooting-death-toll-rises-to-23-idUSKCN22331K
 
23 people killed, if this happened in America our "Canadian" posters would jump on this thread to take shots against American society. I think they think Canada is only the area in the GTA where they shwarma and only know other brown people lol.
 
A very unfortunate incident and really a sad time for us Canadians. Hopefully we will come out of this stronger.
 
23 people killed, if this happened in America our "Canadian" posters would jump on this thread to take shots against American society. I think they think Canada is only the area in the GTA where they shwarma and only know other brown people lol.

To be fair, I personally don't care about rest of Canada a lot. Canada is so freaking huge!

GTA is my home and that's the only location that matters to me.

However, I feel sad about this Nova Scotia incident. I hope this will not be repeated.
 
Police say they were preparing an emergency alert when police shot and killed the suspect in the worst mass shooting in Canada's modern history.

Authorities have been criticised for relying on social media to alert Nova Scotia residents the manhunt for the gunman.

At least 22 people were killed over 13 hours that spanned Saturday night to Sunday morning.

Police are yet to determine a motive for the crime.

The victims include a 17-year-old, a pregnant healthcare worker and a veteran Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) officer.

Family members of some victims have spoken publicly about whether a province-wide alert sent to all residents of Nova Scotia could have prevented some of the deaths.

Nova Scotia Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Chief Supt Chris Leather said that from the time of the initial calls to emergency services on Saturday evening reporting gunshots in the rural community of Portapique, police officials were processing fast-moving information.

Responders found "several casualties inside and outside of a home" but no suspect.

They also discovered "multiple sites in the immediate area, including structures and vehicles that were on fire".

One tweet was sent out at the time warning residents of Portapique, where the rampage began, to stay indoors due to a "firearms complaint".

Police set up two parameters to hunt for the suspect.

It was at around 08:00 local time (11:00 GMT) on Sunday morning that police met with a key witness who gave them critical information about the gunman, Chief Supt Leather said.

After that, the RCMP began providing frequent updates on Twitter, which were picked up by media.

Victims were also found in the communities of Wentworth, Debert, Shubenacadie/Milford and Enfield.

The search ended shortly before midday on Sunday when the suspect was located by police at a service station in Enfield, north of the provincial capital of Halifax. He was shot and later died.

At around 10:15 that morning provincial officials contacted police to offer an emergency alert, Chief Supt Leathers said.

They were in the process of preparing our emergency notification when the gunman was shot by police.

The investigator said he was "very satisfied with the messaging" by police given the complexity of the crime they were working with.

What more do we know about the investigation?
Little is known about what motivated the suspect, Gabriel Wortman, 51 or why he chose his victims.

Police said on Wednesday that while their investigation revealed the suspected shooter acted alone, "we are continuing to investigate whether anyone may has assisted him leading up to the incident - that is still part of the active investigation".

They are expected to release a more detailed timeline of the course of events in the coming days. The rampage took place in multiple communities and over 13 hours.

There are 16 crime scenes being investigated, including multiple fires.

Police say the hunt for the gunman was hampered by the fact he was driving a vehicle that looked like a police cruiser and was wearing a police uniform. How he procured both is part of the investigation.

Who were the victims?
Among the dead were a teacher, a home care nurse working on the frontlines of the coronavirus pandemic, and an RCMP officer.

A national virtual vigil will be held this week to honour the victims of the shooting, as the province is locked-down due to the virus.

The first victim whose name was made public was Constable Heidi Stevenson, a 23-year veteran of the force and a mother of two. The most recent were Alanna Jenkins and Sean McLeod, both managers at correctional facilities.

Another was Heather O'Brien, who was caring for the elderly with the non-profit Victorian Order of Nurses (VON), during the provincial-wide lockdown before she was killed near her hometown of Debert, Nova Scotia.

Another VON employee, Kristen Beaton, was also killed during the shooting.

Lisa McCully, a mother of two, was among the victims. McCully had been a school teacher at Debert Elementary School, according to the school's website.

Not all the victims - both men and women, according to police, and one 17-year-old - have been named.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-52390950
 
Canada's worst ever mass shooting triggered by row between gunman and girlfriend, police say

Canada's worst mass shooting in history was triggered by a domestic dispute between the gunman and his girlfriend, a police official has said.

Gabriel Wortman killed at least 22 people across northern and central Nova Scotia on Saturday and Sunday, but his partner survived the attack.

Speaking ahead of a news conference in which more details were expected to emerge, a police source told the Associated Press that the killings began after a domestic dispute between the pair.

The shootings happened across 16 crime scenes in five rural communities.

Wortman, 51, was shot dead on Sunday morning, around 13 hours after the attack started.

Police said several bodies were found inside and outside one home in the rural town of Portapique.

Authorities believe the gunman targeted his first victims before launching a series of random attacks as he drove around disguised as a police officer, in a vehicle marked to appear like a patrol car.

Officials say he shot people in and around their homes and set fire to homes in Portapique.

The owner of a denture practice in the city of Dartmouth, near Halifax, Wortman lived part time in Portapique, residents say.

His practice, Atlantic Denture Clinic, had been closed for a month due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Authorities said Wortman did not have a police record, but it later emerged he had had at least one run-in with the law.

Court records show he was ordered to receive counselling for anger management after pleading guilty to assaulting a man in the Halifax area in 2001.

Canada has had relatively few mass shootings, having overhauled its gun control laws after Marc Lepine killed 14 women and himself at Montreal's Ecole Polytechnique college in 1989.

https://news.sky.com/story/canadas-...een-gunman-and-girlfriend-police-say-11978108
 
Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has introduced a long-promised ban on assault-style weapons following the country's worst gun massacre in April.

New rules would make it illegal to sell, transport, import or use 1,500 varieties of assault weapons.

The ban is effective immediately but there will be a two-year amnesty period for law-abiding gun owners to comply.

Mr Trudeau also said he would introduce legislation, which has yet to pass, to offer a buy-back programme.

Unlike the US, gun ownership is not enshrined in Canada's constitution, but gun ownership is still popular, especially in rural parts of the country.

Mr Trudeau made a point of saying that most gun owners are law-abiding citizens, but argued that assault-weapons serve no beneficial purpose.

"These weapons were designed for one purpose and one purpose only — only to kill the largest amount of people in the shortest amount of time," he said in a press conference on Friday.

"You don't need an AR-15 to bring down a deer."

The call to ban assault weapons was heightened after a number of high-profile shootings -- in 2017, at a mosque in Quebec, in 2018 on a commercial street in Toronto and most recently, in a rampage across the province of Nova Scotia that became the deadliest shooting in Canada's history.

RCMP have said that the shooter was not licensed to own firearms, but had what appeared to be an assault-style weapon, as well as other guns. The RCMP did not specify which kind, so it is unknown if it will be covered by the ban.

Mr Trudeau campaigned on the ban ahead of last November's election, and he said he was planning on introducing the ban in March, but it was delayed because of coronavirus.

His government had already expanded background check requirements and made it tougher to transport handguns, prior to November's election.

Does Canada have a gun problem?

More than 80,000 of these weapons are registered with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

The government is able to ban the weapons immediately through current regulation, but a buy-back programme would require multi-party support in parliament and would likely cost the government hundreds of millions of dollars.

The ban is controversial politically. A petition against the ban started by Conservative MP Glen Motz in December has more than 175,000 e-signatures.

Many of the weapons used in violent crime in Canada were not obtained legally, and Conservative leader Andrew Scheer said Mr Trudeau would do better to focus on stopping guns from coming across the border than on banning law-abiding gun owners.

The Globe and Mail reported that leaked documents show the buy-back programme would be voluntary, and licensed owners would have their guns grandfathered. Mr Trudeau had previously promised the programme would be mandatory.

On Friday, Mr Trudeau would not confirm whether buy-backs would be voluntary, but reiterated the buy-back programme would have to be supported by other parties, and be fair to everyone.

"The next steps need to be ironed out," he said.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-52505765
 
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