CANADA - shooter in RCMP vehicle & uniform, 22 killed (plus perp), Portapique, NS, 18 April 2020 #2

[deugirtni]

Maybe it’s asking for trouble to bring your replica police car to the pumps? He may have need to fill it up via gas cans.

I was thinking about that aspect as well. I was thinking about people saying he was a grievance collector, or whatever the word used was. I was thinking to myself that many many people I've known over my lifetime do vividly remember grievances done to them, as perceived by themselves. Maybe one person doesn't 'like' a certain person, because of something long ago, another may seem prejudiced against an entire race because of something that was perceived to have happened long ago.. just saying I don't think it's that odd for people to 'collect grievances', just odd for things to swell up to the point of explosive vengeance in one's head and act upon it. imo. Anyway, back to the gas, I'd been thinking.. I wonder if GW did kill all the people with whom he perceived past grievances with, and thought about his parents, and thought about how he'd have to fill up with gas cans to make it anywhere really far away.

 

[deugirtni]

“Lifelong Portapique resident Peter Hodge, 65, woke up at 1:30 a.m. and saw lights so bright, he thought it was a fire. He then realized that the bright lights were from "probably upwards of 14 police cars in the community."...”
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/rcmp-weapon-lockdown-portapique-1.5537598

After spending the four hours in the woods perhaps it was the lights from police cars that indicated to C it was safe to come out from hiding? At the time he wouldn’t have known the shooter was dressed up as an officer, driving a fake police car. If so, the four hours would’ve began at about 9:30 pm.

However when a person is overcome by great shock and fear, ensuring to later remember a precise and accurate timeline is probably the last thing on their mind. But the pandemonium may’ve began well before 10pm if victims were killed, survivors hiding or in shock, who’s to immediately call 911.

I was also wondering - were the only surviving 'witnesses' from the neighbourhood get-together, the children? Or was someone spared who may have also been able to call 911, someone other than the gf and the kids? How do police know about the jealous spat between GW and his gf about the earlier video chat GW had had with another female? Is it the gf reporting all of this and a bit of it leaked out?

Edited: reworded slightly to clarify meaning

 

[deugirtni]

This MacLean's 'opinion piece' (written by: Paul Palango is the author of three books on the RCMP and a frequent commentator over the past 27 years on RCMP issues) asks a good question, imho:

I got a little emotional about what had happened. I was extremely critical about the force and asked out loud why Stevenson a 48-year-old mother of two was alone in a car in the situation that got her killed. It had been at least 13 hours since the events had begun in Portapique, spread the next morning to Wentworth and elsewhere.

“Where was the cavalry?” I asked. “Getting gas at Enfield?”

The Nova Scotia shooting encapsulates all that's wrong with the RCMP - Macleans.ca

 

[mcdonalds]

How many houses in the immediate area were actually occupied that night? Where was the Ellison boy located? the motorist injured on the map? The Ellison brother hiding? Those could all be indicators of the time and area the gunman was in and his travel direction. Surely if this amount of chaos was unraveling- there would have been more than 1 phone call to 911.

 

[Oscarjackson12]

How many houses in the immediate area were actually occupied that night? Where was the Ellison boy located? the motorist injured on the map? The Ellison brother hiding? Those could all be indicators of the time and area the gunman was in and his travel direction. Surely if this amount of chaos was unraveling- there would have been more than 1 phone call to 911.

We know nothing about the details. I’m sure at some point there were several 911 calls but Canada handles things much differently then the U.S. for example. I don’t even think they will hold another press conference.

 

[deugirtni]

How many houses in the immediate area were actually occupied that night? Where was the Ellison boy located? the motorist injured on the map? The Ellison brother hiding? Those could all be indicators of the time and area the gunman was in and his travel direction. Surely if this amount of chaos was unraveling- there would have been more than 1 phone call to 911.

Yes, I believe there were many after that initial one about the shooting which reportedly came in at 10:01pm(?). Just wondering how many of the neighbours who had attended that neighbourhood get-together, if any, survived the night, other than the 2 sets of children and the gf? It would be good to know if there were any neighbouring homes where occupants were present that night, who were not shot or burned by the killer. And where those others resided, as asked above.

 

[MistyWaters]

The Ellison boys heard a shot about 10. "Not so long after that" their father appeared. They asked him about the gun shot, then went outside and saw the glow from the fire. That would suggest to me the fire was well established at the scene and to me, the shooter would have left the scene by then, either to flee or to do more evil in the area. Despite the objection of his father, Corrie went to investigate. He went down and was then able to call back home and take pictures, prior to being shot. Depending on how long "not so long after that" actually was , and how long they stood looking at the glow and how long discussed investigating or not and how long a walk it was.....(lots of unknowns there, sorry) but he might have arrived roughly the time the police did but after the shooter left the scene. The chaos and darkness would only make things worse.

There’s far too many unknowns to even consider a theory the brother was mistakenly shot by a police officer. We already know GW shot innocent bystanders who left the protection of their homes to assist others.

The reason C wouldn’t have known police were present “after hours” of hiding was because other reports indicate the focus by the RCMP during those first hours was containing a parameter as is police procedure. Not one report has them patrolling the streets randomly shooting at unarmed people.

“Hiding in the woods, he could hear gunshots all around him and popping from fires raging through nearby homes and cars.”

“Finally, after hours of hiding, police arrived. His father was unhurt. RCMP told Ellison there was a gunman on the loose, but he's heard very little information since then.....”
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova...ass-shooting-brother-clinton-hiding-1.5541082

 

[mcdonalds]

when I look back at the map that was posted by paganin on May 7- its a pretty good reference on the fire locations, residents. But knowing where the Ellison house is would help.

Is it possible that the Zahl fire was set last?
In the Zahl area - the Tuck Family , the Bonds were neighbors- could the Ellison boy have been near the Zahl residence when he was shot? That would make the 8 people the police stated were found inside and outside of "the home". The broadcastify recording states they are "bringing victims to the intersection from the house" that is "quite a ways down".

Could he have shot the passing motorist around the Zahl area as the motorist stated there was no road out and he was shot by someone driving a police car? That could indicate the gunman was already in the replica car and he was leaving the area towards the feild around 1035.

 

[MistyWaters]

I was thinking about that aspect as well. I was thinking about people saying he was a grievance collector, or whatever the word used was. I was thinking to myself that many many people I've known over my lifetime do vividly remember grievances done to them, as perceived by themselves. Maybe one person doesn't 'like' a certain person, because of something long ago, another may seem prejudiced against an entire race because of something that was perceived to have happened long ago.. just saying I don't think it's that odd for people to 'collect grievances', just odd for things to swell up to the point of explosive vengeance in one's head and act upon it. imo. Anyway, back to the gas, I'd been thinking.. I wonder if GW did kill all the people with whom he perceived past grievances with, and thought about his parents, and thought about how he'd have to fill up with gas cans to make it anywhere really far away.

New Brunswick implemented a lockdown due to COVID-19, restricting entry to out-of-province visitors. GW would’ve surely been aware of this so maybe crossing the border would be too risky, if this rampage was premeditated.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/nb-test-case-court-closed-borders-1.5562240

 

[paganini]

He might’ve but that doesn’t quite account for why he was about to set off with her handcuffed in the backseat of the fake police cruiser along with a gas can (Macleans report linked earlier) and dressed as a police officer or his continued rampage the following day.

I believe it is an assumption that "he was about to set off with her". For example, as mcdonalds speculates, perhaps that was simply were he confined her while he did other things, or the car was in a building he planned to burn. Who knows?

The McCleans article states they argued first over the video call and she went to bed- then a few hours pass and he wakes her up and the assault/handcuff happens. What was he doing between the verbal argument and the physical assault?

The McLean's article says,

He later woke her up, assaulted her, put one of her hands in cuffs, dragged her to a replica RCMP Ford Taurus, one of several replica police cars he kept. He shot at her twice to get her to move. He put her in the backseat of the vehicle, along with some containers of gasoline.​

That is not necessarily "a few hours".

Lisa McCully was on the beach where she snapped a picture. She sent that picture to her sister shortly after 8PM. So, presumably, at that time, especially if Lisa texted the pic from outside, at the beach, there weren't guns being fired and fires burning vigorously. Later, however, she put her children in the basement of her home for safety and went outside to see what the problem was. My guess is that she was responding to shots fired next door at the Blair house because I don't think she'd have sent her children to the basement for safety if she was responding to smoke and a fire. Greg Blair was shot from outside the home. Jamie inside. There were more than those two shots, as a dog was also wounded. One of the older sons (Tyler) has said there was an AR-15 involved.

Ellison reports a SINGLE gunshot and things on fire at the time of the call- could this be the timeline of him actually shooting at her to get her in the car? Did he have a silencer on the gun he used- why only a single gunshot was reported if so many were killed by gun?

Ellison was visiting he father, Richard Ellison who lives in Portapique, but we don't know exactly where. From where it intersects with Orchard Beach Road, for example Portapique Beach Road runs for 1.5 KM, and Orchard Beach Road runs 1.1 KM. I got the impression Ellison might live on Portapique Crescent, which is north of Orchard Beach Road, and would be a bit away from where things were happening. Clinton Ellison told CBC,

But around 10 p.m., they heard a single gunshot. The pair looked outside and noticed a glow in the sky coming from a nearby fire.

Corrie Ellison decided to venture out to find out what was going on, even as his dad pleaded with him to stay. Eventually, he called and told them the fire was really bad and to call the fire department.

His brother and his father waited again. This time, there was no word. Clinton Ellison went out in search for his brother. He walked up the road, flashlight in hand.​

"I could see a body laying on the side of the road, as I got closer I could see that it was my brother," he said.
​

"Eventually, he called" makes me think it took Corrie several minutes to get close enough to see the fire needed the fire department. Clinton and his father also didn't hear the shot(s) that killed Corrie. So, for example, if the Ellison home is on Portapique Crescent (speculation), there are a few hundred feet of trees between there and the nearest fires seen as a "glow in the sky". If he lived further up Portapique Beach Road or Portapique Crescent, they would be 1.5 KM (or more) from the Zahl house.

Although topography probably wouldn't play much of a role in this case, there would obviously be a rise in elevation from the beach to places further from the beach.

Depending on where Richard Ellison's house is and which direction the shooter was firing, it could be not many shots could be heard from there, inside the house, and through the forest. However, it was overcast, which would make the gunfire audible from further.

This video suggests shots with weapons such as those used can be heard up to two miles in ideal conditions:

An RCMP paper evaluating factors affecting how far pistol and rifle shot sound travels:
http://bancroftfishandgame.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Range-Guidlines-sound.pdf

 

[MistyWaters]

This MacLean's 'opinion piece' (written by: Paul Palango is the author of three books on the RCMP and a frequent commentator over the past 27 years on RCMP issues) asks a good question, imho:

I got a little emotional about what had happened. I was extremely critical about the force and asked out loud why Stevenson a 48-year-old mother of two was alone in a car in the situation that got her killed. It had been at least 13 hours since the events had begun in Portapique, spread the next morning to Wentworth and elsewhere.

“Where was the cavalry?” I asked. “Getting gas at Enfield?”

The Nova Scotia shooting encapsulates all that's wrong with the RCMP - Macleans.ca

I don’t know the protocol but it was reported Const Morrison was waiting for her to join him so it appears the two were assigned as partners. This is a description of the occurrence so I’m not sure how the writer makes a connection to the tactical squad getting gas at Enfield.

“RCMP Const. Chad Morrison was waiting in his police cruiser for Const. Heidi Stevenson to join him at the intersection of Highway 2 and Highway 224 in Shubenacadie, in central Nova Scotia, as a frantic manhunt unfolded for a killer.

It was around 10:45 Sunday morning, April 19, and both officers knew of the perplexing and frightening update, issued at dawn, that the rampaging killer was dressed as a Mountie and driving a look-a-like RCMP squad car. From the carnage the gunman caused the night before in Portapique, 70 kilometres to the northwest, they knew he was armed and exceedingly dangerous.

If the two constables hadn’t been talking over their radios to arrange their rendezvous, it seems likely Morrison would have been on high alert when an RCMP cruiser approached from the north....”

But he thought it was his colleague.”
How the Nova Scotia killer deceived two RCMP officers and killed one

 

[paganini]

Could he have shot the passing motorist around the Zahl area as the motorist stated there was no road out and he was shot by someone driving a police car? That could indicate the gunman was already in the replica car and he was leaving the area towards the feild around 1035.

I believe the wounded fellow told police the car was heading toward the beach.

 

[MistyWaters]

I believe it is an assumption that "he was about to set off with her". For example, as mcdonalds speculates, perhaps that was simply were he confined her while he did other things, or the car was in a building he planned to burn. Who knows?



The McLean's article says,

He later woke her up, assaulted her, put one of her hands in cuffs, dragged her to a replica RCMP Ford Taurus, one of several replica police cars he kept. He shot at her twice to get her to move. He put her in the backseat of the vehicle, along with some containers of gasoline.​

That is not necessarily "a few hours".

Lisa McCully was on the beach where she snapped a picture. She sent that picture to her sister shortly after 8PM. So, presumably, at that time, especially if Lisa texted the pic from outside, at the beach, there weren't guns being fired and fires burning vigorously. Later, however, she put her children in the basement of her home for safety and went outside to see what the problem was. My guess is that she was responding to shots fired next door at the Blair house because I don't think she'd have sent her children to the basement for safety if she was responding to smoke and a fire. Greg Blair was shot from outside the home. Jamie inside. There were more than those two shots, as a dog was also wounded. One of the older sons (Tyler) has said there was an AR-15 involved.



Ellison was visiting he father, Richard Ellison who lives in Portapique, but we don't know exactly where. From where it intersects with Orchard Beach Road, for example Portapique Beach Road runs for 1.5 KM, and Orchard Beach Road runs 1.1 KM. I got the impression Ellison might live on Portapique Crescent, which is north of Orchard Beach Road, and would be a bit away from where things were happening. Clinton Ellison told CBC,

But around 10 p.m., they heard a single gunshot. The pair looked outside and noticed a glow in the sky coming from a nearby fire.

Corrie Ellison decided to venture out to find out what was going on, even as his dad pleaded with him to stay. Eventually, he called and told them the fire was really bad and to call the fire department.

His brother and his father waited again. This time, there was no word. Clinton Ellison went out in search for his brother. He walked up the road, flashlight in hand.​

"I could see a body laying on the side of the road, as I got closer I could see that it was my brother," he said.
​

"Eventually, he called" makes me think it took Corrie several minutes to get close enough to see the fire needed the fire department. Clinton and his father also didn't hear the shot(s) that killed Corrie. So, for example, if the Ellison home is on Portapique Crescent (speculation), there are a few hundred feet of trees between there and the nearest fires seen as a "glow in the sky". If he lived further up Portapique Beach Road or Portapique Crescent, they would be 1.5 KM (or more) from the Zahl house.

Although topography probably wouldn't play much of a role in this case, there would obviously be a rise in elevation from the beach to places further from the beach.

Depending on where Richard Ellison's house is and which direction the shooter was firing, it could be not many shots could be heard from there, inside the house, and through the forest. However, it was overcast, which would make the gunfire audible from further.

This video suggests shots with weapons such as those used can be heard up to two miles in ideal conditions:

An RCMP paper evaluating factors affecting how far pistol and rifle shot sound travels:
http://bancroftfishandgame.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Range-Guidlines-sound.pdf

It was reported GW had accumulated a considerable supply of ammunition. Following the PC iirc a question was asked if it was used as an explosive but the response was the fire dept hadn’t yet completed their investigation of the burned properties.

But does burning ammunition sound like gunfire? If it does, that may the reason it appeared one or more shooters was still actively shooting even after police arrived, even if it the sounds were only coming from GWs burning residence. Explosions were often mentioned as well, probably propane tanks, gas tanks etc. It must’ve appeared like a horror scene right out of Apocalypse. Was that premeditated I wonder?

 

[paganini]

This MacLean's 'opinion piece' (written by: Paul Palango is the author of three books on the RCMP and a frequent commentator over the past 27 years on RCMP issues) asks a good question, imho:

I got a little emotional about what had happened. I was extremely critical about the force and asked out loud why Stevenson a 48-year-old mother of two was alone in a car in the situation that got her killed. It had been at least 13 hours since the events had begun in Portapique, spread the next morning to Wentworth and elsewhere.

“Where was the cavalry?” I asked. “Getting gas at Enfield?”

The Nova Scotia shooting encapsulates all that's wrong with the RCMP - Macleans.ca

I was perplexed by his comment because it has been many years since RCMP patrolled 2 to a car. I live in an area with of three small towns, each with a detachment. I've never seen two officers in one car.

Also, in one of the press conferences, one of the ranking officers said it is not unusual for officers to make arrangements on the radio for a "meet-up". Makes sense they would do that to debrief with one another, consider where might be a good place to look next, or even, perhaps, ask one another what the heck is going on here?

 

[NBKevadian]

In Response to Paganini:

I would be in the same consensus as you in regards to whether the Ellisons residence was on Portapique Crescent based on this interview...

https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/1728141379866/

We know the Shop at 136 and Blair home were on fire. In the interview CE2 said he spotted a flashlight, turned and ran, turned onto a road and continued running past a Bend in the road where then he hid in the woods.

If you look at the map, Portapique Crescent has a “Bend” both at the northern part of the road and one at the south. For this reason is why I find the Ellison Portapique Crescent residence plausible.

The above makes sense to me, even if it may be conjecture at this point.
Speculation based on times we know and eye witnesses:
If the Ellisons had investigated the fires from the southern end of Portapique Crescent, it could line up other eyewitness accounts Only if we assume events on Portapique Beach Road (at 200 and the Zahl’s) had already occurred.

GW returns to his car to further pursue CE2 driving towards the beach down Orchard Beach Road where he fires upon the male driver witness who was driving to check on the fire(s). GW continues down the Beach road where the Tucks residence is on the corner of the Beach Road and Cobiquid court. Based on one of the PC map there was another “event” at the end of Cobiquid Ct.


The most easterly part of Cobiquid Ct joins a field with a trail on it. Head north on that field and it joins a loop road which then exits onto highway 2. I believe someone yesterday posted a link to a YouTube link of a “drive of the gunman”, which in the video when the driver did a U-turn at the Portapique entrance and begins heading east towards Debert, you can see the dirt Loop Road connecting to Highway 2. Sorry, I do not have the link to the video or the time stamp where the Loop Road enters view.

 

[paganini]

I took this pic from an April 28 National Post article:

The location marked "1" is a workshop belonging to GW, on Orchard Beach Drive I think. To the left is 200 Portapique Beach Road (GW's house). Tyler Blair said there was a path between these two locations. Directly below is the Zahl / Thomas residence (formerly the Forbes'). Further down, and slightly to the right is the Bond residence and next to that is the Tuck residence. Directly above is Lisa McCully's home (across from the GW workshop), and next to her the Blairs. At the very top, is the Gulenghyn / Madsen residence. That's 12 victims associated with their homes.

If the map is to believed, and the symbols due accurately mark the homes (except for the workshop), the symbol between the Blair home and the Gulenghyn / Madsen is marking an incident where you would turn off Orchard Beach Drive to go onto Portapique Crescent, not associated with the homes. Perhaps this is where Corrie was found, where you would turn off Orchard Beach Drive to go onto Portapique Crescent. Looking at the satellite map, there are large wooded areas on either side of the road there, in the direction of the Blair home.

 

[NBKevadian]

I believe where #1 is is actually the shop, by Satellite photos and recent photos released by Global news last week.
There have been two or three Portapique Event Maps released. Mostly with similarities, but with some differences as well. Hard to know for sure which is the most accurate.

From a PC found on a Global site on April 29, 2020

 

[Oscarjackson12]

Our police force in Ottawa do not travel with pairs either.

another thought is that this gathering was an afternoon bbq or something like that.

 

[newguy123]

I apologise for not being able to post a link but I have seen a map (greyish in colour with lots lines marked) and Ellison lived on Portapique Cr. closer to the "bottom" of the street. I just cannot find that source right now.

I did find this regarding the Tucks. “There’s some fiddle for ya”: A Portapique love story Aaron wrote this I respect my daughter and treat her Mother the way a man should treat a woman, the way I want my daughter to be treated. I put Jolene on a pedestal, and I want the same for my ‘little girl.’ I want to her know she should always be respected and hope she will never accept anything less than the utmost respect from anyone.

Also this quote 'I wake up crying': Sister of N.S. rampage victim speaks out about dealing with tragedy
all three of them were shot within feet of each other actually, in the house,” she said. “They were just shot right at the foyer, the front entrance of their home.”

Oliver-McCurdie says her brother-in-law, Aaron, knew the shooter and that she talked to Aaron’s best friend who said the two had argued in the past.

“From what I understand it was about that car. I’m sure my brother-in-law Aaron was pissed off that he had an RCMP look-a-like.”

Regardless of how animated the arguments were about the car, no doubt the gunman resented it. Also, since Tuck respected women, the contrast between the two men is clear. That might have been reason enough for the shooter to show up at their house.

 

[NBKevadian]

Nova Scotia mass shooting: New information about murder rampage delayed by government lawyers — National Post