In Canada, a gunman disguised as a police officer went on a rampage across Nova Scotia province, shooting people in their homes and setting fires, leaving 16 people dead.

It is the deadliest such attack in the country's history. Officials said the suspected shooter was also dead. A police officer was among those killed.

Several bodies were found inside and outside one home in the small, rural town of Portapique, about 100 kilometres north of Halifax.

Bodies were also found at other locations. Authorities believe the shooter may have targeted his first victims but then began attacking randomly.

Overnight, police began advising residents of the town - already on lockdown because of the coronavirus pandemic - to lock their doors and stay in their basements. Several homes in the area were set on fire as well.

Police identified the man believed to be the shooter as Gabriel Wortman, 51, who was thought to live part-time in Portapique.

Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil said this is one of the most senseless acts of violence in the province's history.