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A man named Gabriel goes on a murderous spree while wearing his police uniform. Starting off in a small town, he shoots multiple people, including police officers. He appears obsessed with the woman he calls his girlfriend. As a manhunt closes in on him, he sets a house on fire.

This is not a recap of the awful events in Nova Scotia over the weekend. It is instead a recap of a scripted TV drama that aired in prime time in Nova Scotia just four days before Gabriel Wortman donned a police uniform and went on his rampage that left at least 23 people dead, the worst mass shooting in Canadian history.

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The RCMP have said they did not find a note explaining his actions and won’t speculate on his possible motive. An RCMP spokesperson did not respond to a request asking if they had any evidence suggesting Wortman saw the show. Whether he saw it and it influenced him may be an unknowable question.

Photo by FBI: Most Wanted/CBS

But if nothing else, it’s a very eerie coincidence — particularly during a pandemic when people are shut indoors and watching more television than ever.

The episode, called “Ironbound,” appeared on the CBS drama FBI: Most Wanted, a new show from the creators of the Law and Order universe. It was episode 11 of the show’s inaugural season, and part of a doubleheader of new episodes airing on Tuesday, April 14. In Canada, the show is carried nationally by Global TV and is available on all cable providers and even over-the-air.

“Ironbound” features the story of Gabriel Clark, a small-town police officer who puts on his uniform one evening and starts shooting people, including three police officers and one civilian. Other attempts are foiled.

Parts of the plot don’t have any obvious connection to Wortman. In the show Clark is a police officer, is much younger than Wortman, and was rejected from a large department due to being a whistleblower about a botched drug raid by other officers. The show has some sympathy for Clark’s character, as the FBI discovers he was correct to blow the whistle and was unfairly punished. The FBI try to convince him to stop the killing by promising to investigate the botched raid.

“Truth before all,” an FBI agent tells him after finding him. “You lived it.”

“I killed for it,” Clark responds, and refuses to surrender.