# Shooting in Nova Scotia **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 19, 2020, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shooting-in-nova-scotia/852146 "2020-04-19T22:37:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2020, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shooting-in-nova-scotia/852146/21 "2020-04-21T13:50:25Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > I hope Canada goes full New Zealand and bans everything in excess of what is needed for a challenging hunt. 19 dead. Biggest shooting in Canuck history. Not likely the last. I mean, that’s kinda where we are now. This is of course the worst mass shooting since Ecole Polytechnique - but the fact it took 31 years for something of a similarly horrifying scale to happen demonstrates that our gun control laws have had an impact. California, with a similar population, has in that period of time had a dozen or more gun massacres. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2020, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shooting-in-nova-scotia/852146/22 "2020-04-21T17:39:31Z")
> [@](#): > > This is of course the worst mass shooting since Ecole Polytechnique - but the fact it took 31 years for something of a similarly horrifying scale to happen demonstrates that our gun control laws have had an impact. California, with a similar population, has in that period of time had a dozen or more gun massacres. Is this an invitation to turn this into yet another gun debate thread? Moderators weigh in please. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2020, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shooting-in-nova-scotia/852146/23 "2020-04-21T17:50:48Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > Is this an invitation to turn this into yet another gun debate thread? Moderators weigh in please. Seems like a thread discussing multiple shootings is _precisely_ the place to debate gun ownership. Thoughts, prayers, and brainstorming proposed solutions. ---
**Author:** ![FloatyGimpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/floatygimpy/32/7750_2.png) [@FloatyGimpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FloatyGimpy)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2020, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shooting-in-nova-scotia/852146/24 "2020-04-21T19:34:24Z")
The count is up to 23 now. Why can’t these people just swallow a bullet rather than make everyone as miserable as they are. I don’t know his name and, every time I see anything about him in the news, I quickly look away. I refuse to remember him. However I’ve read lots about the people who were murdered and I hope I remember as much about them as I can. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2020, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shooting-in-nova-scotia/852146/25 "2020-04-21T21:11:39Z")
> [@FloatyGimpy](#): > > The count is up to 23 now. Why can’t these people just swallow a bullet rather than make everyone as miserable as they are. I don’t know his name and, every time I see anything about him in the news, I quickly look away. I refuse to remember him. However I’ve read lots about the people who were murdered and I hope I remember as much about them as I can. Of course the first fact they released was the killer name- which should never be released. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2020, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shooting-in-nova-scotia/852146/26 "2020-04-21T21:22:32Z")
> [@FloatyGimpy](#): > > The count is up to 23 now. Why can’t these people just swallow a bullet rather than make everyone as miserable as they are. I cannot even begin to imagine wanting to hurt people like this. It is so far beyond by ability to imagine doing something like that that it is hard for me to shake the feeling it’s some kind of physical brain damage. If I accidentally step on someone’s toe I feel bad for a week. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2020, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shooting-in-nova-scotia/852146/27 "2020-04-21T21:25:56Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Of course the first fact they released was the killer name- which should never be released. I disagree. ---
**Author:** ![orcenio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/orcenio/32/1036_2.png) [@orcenio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/orcenio)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2020, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shooting-in-nova-scotia/852146/28 "2020-04-21T21:26:03Z")
I’m aware of the killer’s business, and called my parents to slyly ask where they got their dentures. It wasn’t through him but our family dentist. I didn’t explain the reason for my inquiry, but the possibility that a mass killer was rooting through my family’s mouths gave me the willies. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2020, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shooting-in-nova-scotia/852146/29 "2020-04-21T21:29:16Z")
Has there been a count of how many houses were set on fire? ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2020, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shooting-in-nova-scotia/852146/30 "2020-04-21T22:18:41Z")
It’s said the first few shootings were planned, but then became more random as they progressed. But I haven’t seen the “plan” or reason behind the first ones. Anyone got a link? ---
**Author:** ![GMANCANADA](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gmancanada/32/2837_2.png) [@GMANCANADA](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GMANCANADA)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2020, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shooting-in-nova-scotia/852146/31 "2020-04-24T03:59:34Z")
As the facts are unfolding, once again our national police force is looking like a complete bunch of bumblefucks. Yesterday National post reported that the US consulate in Halifax sent email warnings of the active shooter in the area to Americans. After 13 hours the Mounties had only sent out a tweet. They were “just about to send something” when the guy was killed. > [@](#): > > As an active shooter was on the loose in Nova Scotia Sunday morning, the U.S. Consulate in Halifax sent emailed alerts to its citizens warning of the danger at a time when the RCMP was using Twitter to communicate the news. > **[As mass shooting was happening, U.S. Consulate in Nova Scotia sent email...](https://nationalpost.com/news/newsalert-rcmp-say-shooter-acted-alone?video_autoplay=true)** > > Questions have been raised as to why no emergency alerts were transmitted to Nova Scotians' cellphones and television screens as a rampage was underway I just read today in The Star that 2 Mounties just opened fire for no apparent reason on a fire station in Onslow and then just drove away. The suspect was not on the scene. > **[‘We don’t know what they were firing at’: Mounties’ gunfire during hunt for...](https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/we-don-t-know-what-they-were-firing-at-mounties-gunfire-during-hunt-for-n/article_084652ee-2183-5c09-9966-b5e6279cb7fa.html)** > > It’s unclear how the incident, which is now being reviewed by the police watchdog agency in Nova Scotia, fits into the broader context of the hunt for a man who killed 22 people over the weekend. > [@](#): > > Pat Curran, SIRT’s interim director, said that the two officers “arrived at, or about the same time”, that they were near each other, and that the suspect in the mass shootings was not on the scene. > > “We don’t know what they were firing at.” I don’t personally know any RCMP and I’m not a cop, but I do personally know several OPP, Peel, Toronto and Niagara cops. Not one of them has ever had much good to say about the policing capabilities of the RCMP. This is going back years to the Alberta shooting where several were killed. The general comment seems to be poor procedures, training and policing & investigative skills compared to other forces. The consensus is they’re great if you sit them at a computer and let them search for white collar crime and that’s it. As it was after the Alberta killings, maybe time to give the force or at least it’s senior staff an enema. Although nothing seemed to happen after the Alberta incident. So embarrassing. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2020, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shooting-in-nova-scotia/852146/32 "2020-04-24T04:45:59Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > It’s said the first few shootings were planned, but then became more random as they progressed. But I haven’t seen the “plan” or reason behind the first ones. Anyone got a link? The AP just posted this story: [Canada mass shooting erupted from argument, official says](https://apnews.com/aeec329e92569a7b1bbdc44bc6aa2fa2) > [@](#): > > Canada’s worst mass shooting erupted from an argument between the gunman and his girlfriend, who survived the attack, a police official said. > > The official confirmed to The Associated Press late Thursday that the weekend shooting rampage in Nova Scotia stemmed from a domestic dispute involving the couple. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said more details would be provided at a news conference Friday. The article does not give a time for tomorrow’s news conference, tho. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2020, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shooting-in-nova-scotia/852146/33 "2020-04-24T11:36:19Z")
The news here yesterday said their excuse was, they couldn’t agree what it should say, and couldn’t reach the person who would have ok’d it. We’re gonna hear every excuse in the book, before this is over. In the end it will amount to, ‘way, WAY out of their depth!’, in my opinion. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2020, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shooting-in-nova-scotia/852146/34 "2020-04-24T13:48:19Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > Is this an invitation to turn this into yet another gun debate thread? Moderators weigh in please. We have already been having that discussion in the «How’s Trudeau doing, Canada?» thread in Politics and Elections, which may be a better place for it. Grew out of an inquiry as to what reaction the federal government should have or do in response to the killings. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2020, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shooting-in-nova-scotia/852146/35 "2020-04-24T14:01:13Z")
[Starts at post 364](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=784008&page=8). ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2020, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shooting-in-nova-scotia/852146/36 "2020-04-24T17:38:34Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Of course the first fact they released was the killer name- which should never be released. And how exactly do you think the government can censor that fact, particularly in a small town where everyone knows everyone? ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2020, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shooting-in-nova-scotia/852146/37 "2020-04-24T19:03:29Z")
[AP story after today’s press conference offers some new details](https://apnews.com/aeec329e92569a7b1bbdc44bc6aa2fa2): > [@](#): > > Canada’s worst mass shooting erupted from an argument between the gunman and his girlfriend, who survived the attack, police confirmed Friday. > [@](#): > > “She did manage to escape. That could well have been the catalyst of events,” Campbell said. > [@](#): > > Campbell said the girlfriend hid overnight in the woods from the suspect, who has been identified as 51-year-old Gabriel Wortman. > [@](#): > > Campbell said they found 13 deceased victims in the rural community of Portapique, a quiet community of 100 residents where the suspect lived part time. He said when police arrived, they discovered a man shot. The man reported he was driving when someone in what looked like a police car shot him. He survived and was transported to hospital. > [@](#): > > Police found “several people who were deceased, some of which were lying in the roadway.” > > Authorities initially thought the suspect might have committed suicide and was in one of the homes that was on fire, he said. > > Campbell said at about 6:30 a.m., Wortman’s girlfriend emerged from hiding in the woods, called 911 and gave police detailed information about the suspect including that he was driving a mock police car and was in police uniform. > > Police later started receiving 911 calls more than 35 miles away. Campbell said the suspect killed two men and a woman and set their house on fire. He knew at least two of them. > > He then approached another residence in that area where he knew people, and knocked on the door. But the people inside did not answer and he left. The occupants called 911 and confirmed the suspect was armed and was driving what looked like a police car. > > He then shot a woman on the street and pulled cars over and shot and killed people, Campbell said. > > He later shot and injured a male police officer in his car. The officer managed to escape and survived. Campbell then said there was a collision between a female officer’s police car and the gunman’s mock police car. He shot and killed the officer and took her gun and set fires to the cars. Campbell said he also killed a passerby and took their SUV. > > He then drove to a house and killed a woman he knew before removing his police uniform and stealing her car. He then drove to get gas and was shot by a police officer who happened to be at the gas station refueling. > [@](#): > > Campbell said the suspect’s girlfriend is recovering and continues to cooperate with police. He said it would have been a lot worse had she not told them he was driving a car made to look like a police vehicle. The rest of the article offers tidbits about Mr. Wortman that seem to indicate that he was, um, less than stable. It also seems as if he may have been planning or preparing for exactly this sort of thing, based on his purchases of firearms and ex-police vehicles. ---
**Author:** ![orcenio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/orcenio/32/1036_2.png) [@orcenio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/orcenio)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2020, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shooting-in-nova-scotia/852146/38 "2020-04-24T19:44:51Z")
I’m getting facebook reports of shots fired [all around Halifax](https://www.thechronicleherald.ca/news/local/rcmp-respond-to-report-of-shots-fired-in-hammonds-plains-area-warn-people-to-stay-inside-441903/) (from Hammond’s Plains to Dartmouth crossing. Could be that everyone is still jumpy. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2020, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shooting-in-nova-scotia/852146/39 "2020-04-24T20:12:10Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > And how exactly do you think the government can censor that fact, particularly in a small town where everyone knows everyone? I didnt say censor, I said “release”. Why release it? They havent released the type of guns used. And Canadians tend to be police and helpful, if the Govt had said “We are not releasing the name of the killer and we’d appreciate it if no one else did either”. it wouldnt be so widely known. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2020, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shooting-in-nova-scotia/852146/40 "2020-04-24T21:00:35Z")
What’s the difference, in your opinion, between censoring the name and not releasing the name? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shooting-in-nova-scotia/852146.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shooting-in-nova-scotia/852146.md?page=3)