Personally, I didn't get the impression this woman was making a point that 'it could have been her/them'. Surely the woman must be feeling consumed with regret - not all instances about which were for things that had been within her control.
CANADA - shooter in RCMP vehicle & uniform, 22 killed (plus perp), Portapique, NS, 18 April 2020 #2
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Didn't I read at some point that GW had an ex wife, or am I misremembering things? If so, does anyone know which years he was married? I guess I am a little confused at reading about the first instance of the current common-law girlfriend running to the (ex) neighbour for help in the early 2000s. Had they been together that long (some 17 years?)?
Forbes said her first awareness of Wortman’s domestic violence was shortly after he moved to Portapique in the early 2000s, when his partner came to her door and asked for help.
“She ran to my house and said Gabriel was beating on her and she had to get away. She was afraid,” said the 62-year-old veteran of the Canadian Forces.
Forbes said she encouraged her neighbour to seek help but recalled that she was frightened of her partner and of repercussions of going to police due to threats he’d made against her family.
Neighbour reported mass shooter’s domestic violence, weapons to police
Forbes said her first awareness of Wortman’s domestic violence was shortly after he moved to Portapique in the early 2000s, when his partner came to her door and asked for help.
“She ran to my house and said Gabriel was beating on her and she had to get away. She was afraid,” said the 62-year-old veteran of the Canadian Forces.
Forbes said she encouraged her neighbour to seek help but recalled that she was frightened of her partner and of repercussions of going to police due to threats he’d made against her family.
Neighbour reported mass shooter’s domestic violence, weapons to police
MistyWaters
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That was just my opinion, how I perceived it. I noticed she expressed a fair amount of blame as well, as if to suggest this tragedy could’ve been prevented. Could’ve it been? It’s impossible to say at this point in time, especially without knowing a motive IMO.
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MistyWaters
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The existence of any ex-wife has never been officially reported that I’ve noticed. You may have gotten that impression from early unconfirmed news reports indicating an exwife/exgirlfriend and her boyfriend were the first to be murdered.
The girlfriend was referred to as a common law spouse during the last press conference, indicating a longer term relationship.
We will never know if it could've been prevented. Sometimes one action taken sooner would have simply led to a different, faster, effect, possibly less or more devastating than a later action or inaction, and who can say which tragedy would be worse.
As far as the Forbes woman.. as a mild example.. if I see a dog running loose, it really disturbs me and I feel like I have to do something about it. There have been times when I have gently tried to get such a dog to come to me, and other times I've called the SPCA in the hopes they would pick up the dog before it got killed by a vehicle. I can only imagine how I would have felt if I had called and nothing was done and then I saw or heard that the dog had been killed... very lame 'comparison', which isn't comparable at all, but just saying, one who made a report in good faith might feel angry that said report went unheeded, thinking that possibly a tragedy could have been prevented, whether or not it could in fact have been prevented, she would never know.
It does disturb me however, that when the woman did experience direct actions from GW which were legitimately reportable in the 'first-person', she chose not to report it. That was a direct complaint against the perp, for which he presumably could have been charged with stalking, intimidating, whatever, and an order to stay away could have been issued. And with such charges in his history, perhaps police would have had greater ability to check things out if there were reports of weapons and guns and replica police cruisers. Even though such action may not have protected GW's partner at the time, perhaps any further complaints about him from anyone in the future could have been handled differently, had he been 'known' to have these other things in his record. On the other hand, the woman herself may have lost her life by doing any such reporting at that time. It just seems contrary to me that she was willing to report one thing, which she did not see with her own eyes, but not willing to report another thing, in which she and he were directly involved.
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IMO Ms Forbes input has fleshed out quite credibly the back story of *** and gf regardless of her feelings of guilt or blame.
WS rules prohibit discussion of articles from non approved news sources but I think It should be pointed out that Canadian Press and many other MSM interviewed Ms Forbes after they became aware of her interview with an unapproved news source. IMO (because I can’t name or quote the source in this thread) Ms Forbes was in contact with two nurses in Truro named in MSM who have a group called Persons Against Non-State Torture. They asked her to get in contact to be interviewed the unapproved source. MSM neglects to make us aware of the connection between the unapproved source and the PANST although they name both.
The Nova Scotia shooting encapsulates all that’s wrong with the RCMP
The Nova Scotia shooting encapsulates all that's wrong with the RCMP - Macleans.ca
The Nova Scotia shooting encapsulates all that's wrong with the RCMP - Macleans.ca
Forgot to repost the MSM link:
Neighbour reported mass shooter's domestic violence, weapons to police
Neighbour reported mass shooter's domestic violence, weapons to police
What I hear most in the Forbes audio clip is anger and frustration- Anger that it had been reported and the frustration in trying to get it taken seriously. By her accounts- she tried to help and prevent-she rang the alarm bell and she was stonewalled by the legislation.
casesensitive
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Law professors ask premier to launch a public inquiry.
Dalhousie law professors ask N.S. premier to launch public inquiry into mass shooting
Dalhousie law professors ask N.S. premier to launch public inquiry into mass shooting
The following paragraph is written as "musing aloud" and is not a criticism of the Forbes. Hopefully I get the wording correct.
I can understand the frustration at the attempt to get the police involved and getting nowhere, and then possibly making it worse for the g/f. Not a pleasant situation by any means. The situation when the idiot came to their house and it was witnessed by both husband and wife causes me to scratch my head. That was a direct threat. I can well imagine them believing nothing would happen/change if it was reported and a general lack of faith in "the system". However, if you condemn neighbours for not believing you, and yet you did not report the second incident, would that affect how others view what you say? I would think so.
I was not there and I hope I don't ever have to be. I heard a few minutes of details of a story that unfolded over quite some time so there is no way I am "fully informed". Her emotions came thru loud and clear though and I am glad she came forward to tell her story. My vision is always better when viewing other people's stories after the fact, a very human failing.
I can understand the frustration at the attempt to get the police involved and getting nowhere, and then possibly making it worse for the g/f. Not a pleasant situation by any means. The situation when the idiot came to their house and it was witnessed by both husband and wife causes me to scratch my head. That was a direct threat. I can well imagine them believing nothing would happen/change if it was reported and a general lack of faith in "the system". However, if you condemn neighbours for not believing you, and yet you did not report the second incident, would that affect how others view what you say? I would think so.
I was not there and I hope I don't ever have to be. I heard a few minutes of details of a story that unfolded over quite some time so there is no way I am "fully informed". Her emotions came thru loud and clear though and I am glad she came forward to tell her story. My vision is always better when viewing other people's stories after the fact, a very human failing.
Oscarjackson12
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The problem was that if they called the police it very likely wasn’t enough to charge him. They would have gone and talked to him. Even if he could be charged he would have been out on bail. I have no doubt that this would have incited worse events happening especially when he had guns. They did the only thing they could - move.
MistyWaters
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Yes I understand this. But even if she had been successful six or more years ago, would it have prevented any future tragedy from occurring? I’m not so sure even if we could travel by Time Machine that could be predicted. The illegal weapons and spousal abuse, given the laxity of Canadian sentencing, are crimes far beneath prison for life sentencing. Its also known even though certain weapons are illegal, they’re still obtainable through criminal organizations. Had GW applied for a PAL in the past, there’s also nothing to indicate he couldn’t have purchased weapons legally. As for charging people involved in neighbourhood disputes, I don’t want to go there except to say for example, what one person might consider stalking, another considers is their legal right to park on the side of a public road.
What was it that caused GW to spiral out of control April, 2020 and not 6 years ago, or 10 years ago or 30 years ago? Into his 50s, he was far older than most spree killers but his age made him far more devious and dangerous IMO.
Below is a quote by the sister of the woman who lived across the road, shot in a cold blooded murder. I think what she said is an incredibly accurate observation - nothing justified any of this.
“Kierstead said McCully only knew the gunman as an “acquaintance” but said there were some relationships in the community that “were under stress.” She didn’t provide further details....”
“There was some community conflict and I don’t know the details of it, but I don’t think that really justifies any of this,” she said...”
‘Like a stab wound’: Children of N.S. shooting victims ‘struggling’ after tragedy
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MistyWaters
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By reading accounts of the negative interactions it’s easy to get the impression GW might’ve been somewhat of a raging lunatic 24/7 that everyone knew to avoid. What made him dangerous, but probably kept him on the right side of the law, was the ability to present different faucets of his personality to different people at different times, perhaps the reason he and his common law spouse were invited to the party. JMO
“A former client at his clinic, who asked that her name not be used, recalled that Wortman and his common-law partner who worked with him were jovial and easy-going together when she received new dentures from him in September.
“He was nuts; I mean that in a good way,” she said. “We were carrying on back and forth like we knew each other our whole lives.
“They seemed to get along fine, bantering with each other like you would with your good friends. They seemed like very nice people together, very happy people.”
The woman said it was the friendly atmosphere at the clinic that made her visit so memorable, and the joking between them that eased the burden of what could have been an uncomfortable procedure.
“She said, ‘He gets all the thanks and all the hugs, and I do all the work.’ So I asked her if she wanted a hug, and I gave her a hug,” the former client said.
“I’m stunned here, to tell you the truth. It’s often the last person you’d think of, but they always say that after something like this.”....”
Those who knew Gabriel Wortman stunned by news of shooting spree | The Guardian
I think you raise a valid point- what one considers a violation - another person may not consider It to be. It’s subjective to our own narrative and experience.
This was a long term partnership that without a doubt had evolved and degraded into volatile situations over the years.
Clearly something in him - substance,stress, mental illness could have Caused him to snap that night- but we can’t ignore there seems to be an element of premeditation in his subsequent actions.
Im Also lead to believe There’s a lot more to the relationship dynamics than I Really know at this point.
It was mentioned GW was jealous and possessive and manipulative of the girlfriend, alcohol was a trigger- but I wonder if after years of living with this behaviour- the girlfriend actually throughout the relationship fought back verbally and physically?
It was eluded to in the Maclean’s article, An argument over a video call. The Forbes interview states a conflict started over Alleged rumours of GW infidelity.
Oscarjackson12
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This is pure conjecture but does anyone else think that he handcuffed her in the backseat of the car and was intending for her to witness what he was about to do? That makes a bit of sense to me. The gasoline was in there or he put it in. There is still so much we don’t know. I do think it was premeditated though. I guess we’ll understand more at some point.
tayaway
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Forbes mentioned, through hearsay, that GW literally strangled his gf in front of them. My guess is, behind closed doors, he often threatened to kill her. Did he snap? It's more likely that he thought regularly about killing people he believed wronged him and on that night, felt justified to act on it.
tayaway
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Yes, to punish her by watching her friends suffer before he killed her.
Oscarjackson12
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I don’t know if I could recover if I was her. A complete nightmare.
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