Nova Scotia’s mass-shooting inquiry reaches its midway point. ultimately, there have been few answers for the families that have been carrying questions with them for the two years since the country’s worst mass killing.
The following story contains graphic details of violence that will disturb some readers.There have been scrutinized police decisions.
After shooting Greg Blair, the first victim of the rampage, the gunman shot Blair’s wife, Jamie, several times through her bedroom door, which she was barricading with her body to protect her children. After she fell to the floor, the killer opened the door and shot her again, fatally.It appears that Corrie Ellison — the last victim in Portapique on April 18 — may have been leaning into the killer’s car on the passenger side when he was shot three times.
According to the inquiry investigation, the gunman left Portapique, speeding up a dirt road called the “blueberry field road” to access the main highway, around 10:45 p.m. — about 20 minutes after police first arrived in Portapique. As well, for reasons still to be determined, police set up containment points on the highway west of Portapique, but none to the east, which is the direction the gunman took on his exit.The inquiry has made it clear that police were told multiple times by multiple people that the gunman was Gabriel Wortman and that he was driving a replica police car.
Initially, RCMP supervisors limited police presence in Portapique to the three first-responding officers The decision, coupled with some lack of clarity about who was giving orders, caused some frustration among RCMP members who arrived at Portapique shortly after Beselt, Patton and Merchant, but were told to hold fast at the top of Portapique Beach Road, the inquiry has heard.