Written by: Morgana Adby



Last night, RCMP in Portapique, Nova Scotia responded to a shooting. Several dead were found in one house, and Gabriel Wortman was identified as the suspect. During the course of the night, he was spotted several times and was associated with multiple fires. The suspect had at least one altercation with police involving his firearm.

The suspect is now deceased, he was apprehended around 11 am local time. RCMP officer Heidi Stephenson, the mother of two children and an officer of 20 years, is deceased. Another officer was injured, at least 2 civilians injured, and upward of 10 deaths were confirmed during the recent press conference. The exact number of victims remains unclear.

Before the suspect was apprehended, the police posted tweets, warning residents that the suspect had been driving a car, intentionally disguised as an RCMP cruiser. He also was wearing a partial or complete police uniform. Chief superintendent Chris Leather, who also is the Criminal Operations Officer for Nova Scotia said that his disguise “Certainly speaks to it not being a random act.”

He also noted that the identity of victims “seems to be random in nature,” but continued to stress that this is an early investigation, with more details to come.

Most of the victims do not appear to have a prior relationship with the shooter. Responding to questions on if this was a hate crime or connected to COVID-19, police say the public will have to wait until they can confirm the facts during their investigation. Some of the crime scenes have not yet been fully investigated. Expect more information in the coming days.