{"id":613098,"date":"2026-04-18T20:46:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-18T20:46:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/613098\/"},"modified":"2026-04-18T20:46:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-18T20:46:10","slug":"nova-scotians-mourn-those-killed-in-mass-shooting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/613098\/","title":{"rendered":"Nova Scotians mourn those killed in mass shooting"},"content":{"rendered":"

HALIFAX \u2013 It\u2019s been six years since a man disguised as an RCMP officer began a shooting rampage in rural Nova Scotia<\/a>, killing 22 people including a teenager and a pregnant woman.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The worst mass shooting<\/a> in modern Canadian history began after denture-maker Gabriel Wortman assaulted his common-law partner in Portapique, N.S., before fatally shooting neighbours, strangers and an RCMP officer.<\/p>\n

His rampage went on for more than 13 hours until RCMP officers fired multiple shots at him and he shot himself in the head at a gas station north of Halifax, where he was pronounced dead.<\/p>\n

The shooting prompted a public inquiry that resulted in more than 100 recommendations to improve policing, address intimate-partner violence and improve community safety.<\/p>\n

Myra Freeman, the chair of the committee that\u2019s been tasked with monitoring progress toward completing these recommendations, issued a statement saying the shooting has forever changed the lives of families, survivors, communities and all Nova Scotians.<\/p>\n

Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n

\u201cThe grief experienced was felt across Canada, in the United States and beyond, and can still be felt to this day,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\"Get<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tGet daily National news<\/p>\n

Get daily Canada news delivered to your inbox so you’ll never miss the day’s top stories.<\/p>\n

Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston announced that flags would be lowered to half-mast at all provincial government buildings this weekend.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has been six years since Nova Scotia was forever changed by the events of April 18-19, 2020 \u2014 an event that stole the lives of innocent people in senseless acts of violence, and impacted countless others,\u201d the premier said in a statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a government, we are working hard to implement recommendations made by the Mass Casualty Commission. This is the driving force as we work with municipalities, the federal government and the RCMP to make communities in Nova Scotia safer.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Friday, Canada\u2019s top Mountie apologized for the RCMP\u2019s decision to send officers to train in an area of Nova Scotia where some residents were slain during the mass shooting.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tMore on Canada
\n\t\t\tMore videos\n\t\t<\/p>\n

RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme sent a letter Thursday to Nova Scotia MP Alana Hirtle saying the exercises caused \u201charm and trauma\u201d to people living in the Debert area, where two women were fatally shot on April 19, 2020.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know that his is particularly sensitive,\u201d Duheme said. \u201cGoing forward, I assure you that the (RCMP) will not schedule training or exercises in Colchester County around the anniversary. We will also approach this training \u2026 in Colchester County through a trauma-informed lens, and we will identify alternate times and locations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n

In a statement Hirtle posted online, the Liberal MP said the RCMP\u2019s decision to schedule large-scale tactical exercises in Debert was \u201cinsensitive, tone-deaf and unacceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cCommunities across Colchester County deserve peace and respect as we approach April 18th and 19th \u2014 a time when families, friends and neighbours carry the weight of tragedy that has changed us forever,\u201d Hirtle\u2019s statement says.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve heard directly from community members about the pain and anxiety that has been caused.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\t&copy 2026 The Canadian Press\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"HALIFAX \u2013 It\u2019s been six years since a man disguised as an RCMP officer began a shooting rampage…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":613099,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[49,48,59618,44,907],"class_list":["post-613098","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-canada","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-mass-shooting","tag-news","tag-nova-scotia"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/613098","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=613098"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/613098\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/613099"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=613098"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=613098"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=613098"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}