Mass Shooting Kills 17 in Canada

Canada witnessed worst mass shooting in 30 years after a man disguised as police officer went on shooting rampage in Nova Scotia province, killing 17 people.

Media reports said, Canada witnessed worst mass shooting in 30 years after a man disguised as police officer went on shooting rampage in Nova Scotia province, killing 17 people.

A police officer was among those killed.

Several bodies found inside and outside one home in the small, rural town of Portapique, about 60 miles (100 kilometres) north of Halifax – what police called the first scene.

During a 12-hour killing spree, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police identified the shooter as Gabriel Wortman, 51, who had also disguised his car to look like a police cruiser.

Police first announced that they had arrested Wortman at a petrol station in Enfield, outside Halifax, but later said he had died. It was not clear how and they did not explain further.

Mass shootings are relatively rare in Canada. The country overhauled its gun-control laws after its worst mass shooting in 1989, when gunman Marc Lepine killed 14 women and himself at Montreal’s Ecole Polytechnique college.

It is illegal to possess an unregistered handgun or any kind of rapid-fire weapon in Canada.

Purchasing a weapon requires training, a personal risk assessment, two references, spousal notification and criminal record checks.

RCMP Chief Superintendent Chris Leather said many of the victims did not know Wortman.

Superintendent Leather said they would investigate whether the attack had anything to do with the coronavirus pandemic but no link has been found thus far.

While on the other hand Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau expressing his deep concerns on the situation, deplored what he called “a terrible situation.”