Canada searches for answers after gunman kills 19 people in country’s deadliest shooting
- Victims of 12-hour rampage in Nova Scotia include police officer, elementary teacher, elderly care nurse and home care assistant.
- ‘Canada is mourning,’ says PM Justin Trudeau, telling media not to give killer the ‘gift of infamy’
Grief and bewilderment spread across communities in Canada's Atlantic coast province of Nova Scotia as officials began releasing the names of some of the 19 victims of Canada's worst mass shooting on Monday.
The victims of the weekend's 12-hour shooting rampage by a gunman disguised as a policeman in central Nova Scotia included a police officer, an elementary teacher, an elderly care nurse and a home care assistant.
The gunman was also killed after cutting a swathe of mayhem and destruction across nearly 100km (62 miles) of normally tranquil rural Nova Scotia late on Saturday and early on Sunday.
Speaking at his daily briefing in Ottawa, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canadians were jolted from their efforts to defeat the coronavirus outbreak “by the senseless violence and tragedy in Nova Scotia”.
“The pandemic will prevent us from mourning together in person, but a vigil will be held virtually to celebrate the lives of the victims,” he said, adding it would take place on Friday night through a Facebook group.
Trudeau praised Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Constable Heidi Stevenson, who was killed by the gunman in the line of duty.
“Constable Stevenson died protecting others,” Trudeau said. “She was answering the call of duty, something she had done every day when she went to work for 23 years.”
The tragedy unfolded in small towns of Portapique, Truro, Milford, and Enfield where people know their neighbours and look out for each other, Trudeau said. “Now these communities are in mourning, and Canada is mourning with them.”
On Monday morning, the Nova Scotia Teachers Union (NSTU) identified one of the victims as Lisa McCully.
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“9,300 NSTU hearts are broken along with those of her colleagues and students at Debert Elementary, as well as her family and friends who knew her not only as a passionate teacher but as a shining love in their lives,” Paul Wozney, president of the teachers' union, said in a statement.
The Victorian Order of Nurses (VON) said two of its employees, Heather O'Brien and Kristen Beaton, were also killed in the rampage.
O'Brien was a licensed practical nurse, wife, mother and grandmother, VON president and CEO Jo-Anne Poirier said in a statement.
Beaton was a continuing care assistant, and a young wife and mother, she added.
“All of our front-line care providers are heroes. Yesterday, two of those heroes, Heather O'Brien and Kristen Beaton, were taken from their families, and from VON,” Poirier said. “We mourn their loss, and we mourn for their families.”
Investigators were looking for a motive on Monday.
Commissioner Brenda Lucki, head of Canada's national police force, the RCMP, told CBC News that she believed the shooter had begun the attack with an initial “motivation” but later “turned to randomness”.
The rampage does not appear to be linked to terrorism, she added.
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RCMP Chief Superintendent Chris Leather said police responded to multiple 911 calls on Saturday evening at a residence in the small rural community of Portapique, about 130km north of provincial capital of Halifax.
When police arrived at the scene they found several casualties inside and outside the home, he said. Several structures were also set on fire.
Radio-Canada reported that the pursuit of the 51-year-old gunman stretched across more than 100km.
The shooter died in a shoot-out with police. It is unclear whether he was killed or took his own life.
The shooter was said to be wearing an RCMP uniform and at one point drove a car resembling an RCMP police cruiser. Police confirmed he was not an employee of the force.
Trudeau asked the media to refrain from using the name of the perpetrator.
“Do not give this person the gift of infamy,” Trudeau said.
