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

[Amoca]

Nova Scotia gunman was a ‘psychopath’ and ‘paranoid’ about COVID-19 pandemic: court doc

So, he was a grievance collector and he didn't LIKE the RCMP. This is the newly redacted info. Via Global. Global's had decent reporting on this. I gotta wonder again, was he headed back to the city? He had a beef with Dartmouth police this past winter.

 

[MistyWaters]

Nova Scotia gunman was a ‘psychopath’ and ‘paranoid’ about COVID-19 pandemic: court doc

So, he was a grievance collector and he didn't LIKE the RCMP. This is the newly reduced info. I gotta wonder again, was he headed back to the city? He had a beef with Dartmouth police this past winter.

So if his collection of police paraphernalia wasn’t due admiration and respect, strong likelihood plotting this massacre was spinning through his disturbed head for quite some time. IMO his actions were intended to discredit the RCMP in some way, possibly he anticipated an unknown rogue police officer would be blamed for the killings or police officers would mistakingly bring down one or more of their own.

I’m curious if he undertook other actions to intentionally generate additional confusion, for example fabricated 911 calls and specifically the shooting at the fire station.

 

[Amoca]

Perhaps, but earlier the significance of the party was speculation that some incident occurred there, enough to incite GWs fury including the assault on his common law wife after returning to their home. Then further retaliation by his returning to the party house and group of people present and murdering them.

That contradicts this - “Before the rampage, Wortman and his common-law spouse were having drinks and Facetiming friends.”.....”at their property on 136 Orchard Beach Dr”.

If indeed there was any sort of gathering it’s beginning to appear it wasn’t directly involved in his motive. I also don’t recall the RCMP ever mentioning a party was involved.

Party was mentioned in this which I had posted to Facebook.
Nova Scotia shootings began after gunman attacked his girlfriend, sources say

 

[Peace777]

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova...hot-at-person-who-wasn-t-n-s-gunman-1.5559321
“Confusion over a parked police cruiser and someone wearing a safety vest led two RCMP officers to start shooting at a person at a central Nova Scotia firehall during the manhunt for the gunman in last month's mass shooting, sources confirmed to CBC.....

......Pat Curran, acting director of SIRT, said he didn't have any additional details to share this week. But the chaotic scene that unfolded at the hall reflects just how frantic the search for the gunman was that morning.

By the time the two officers arrived at the firehall, the shooter was already about 20 kilometres further south, where he passed a gas station in the Brookfield area, according to surveillance photos the Mounties released last week.

Peers wasn't at the firehall that morning and said it's still not clear to the firefighters what exactly prompted the RCMP officers to start firing. But he said he can appreciate they were in the midst of an unpredictable situation.

"It obviously definitely had something to do with the shooter, you know. But how that unfolded? I had no idea. And it was a pretty tense time," Peers said. "We're not probing or anything like that."

Like any family unit, the Onslow Belmont firefighters look out for one another, said Peers. They regularly get together for breakfast on Sundays to swap stories about their week......”

My question would be, "Why were you firing on a police officer who you thought MAYBE the gunman if the guy wasn't walking with a gun drawn or firing 1 at the time?" "Do you shoot first and ask questions later?" Just wondering....

 

[Amoca]

So if his collection of police paraphernalia wasn’t due admiration and respect, strong likelihood plotting this massacre was spinning through his disturbed head for quite some time. IMO his actions were intended to discredit the RCMP in some way, possibly he anticipated an unknown rogue police officer would be blamed for the killings or police officers would mistakingly bring down one or more of their own.

I’m curious if he undertook other actions to intentionally generate additional confusion, for example fabricated 911 calls and specifically the shooting at the fire station.

They said he didn't own a cell phone. (Neither do I, so not unusual, we have terrible reception) I can't imagine that he'd have a working RCMP radio, surely that's a bridge too far. Surely...

 

[newguy123]

What happened next is redacted from the document but she told police Wortman “poured gasoline all inside the cottage” and leading to the warehouse, “so Gabriel could burn that.” He also poured gas onto his cars and Jeep.
At some point, after returning to the residence (the cottage) the gunman put his g/f in the mocked up cruiser. If she was roused from sleep and forced into the cruiser how did she know he poured gas inside the house? Is that when he went back in and left her unattended in the cruiser? Perhaps he told her that is what he was doing. But how did she know he was doing the "warehouse" too? If they left the "warehouse" and went to the cottage, how did she know he had prepped the warehouse for a fire?
Also, if there was no party, bbq or "get together", but rather a virtual gathering via facetime, then beyond destroying his own stuff, what was the motivation for the murders? People trying to help put out a fire and he stopped them?
If he burned his bridges behind him, he had no plans to come back. What was the purpose of this scorched earth policy? Where did he see it leading?

 

[tayaway]

Perhaps, but earlier the significance of the party was speculation that some incident occurred there, enough to incite GWs fury including the assault on his common law wife after returning to their home. Then further retaliation by his returning to the party house and group of people present and murdering them.

That contradicts this - “Before the rampage, Wortman and his common-law spouse were having drinks and Facetiming friends.”.....”at their property on 136 Orchard Beach Dr”.

If indeed there was any sort of gathering it’s beginning to appear it wasn’t directly involved in his motive. I also don’t recall the RCMP ever mentioning a party was involved.

I completely forgot about that! They supposedly got into a heated argument and then left the gathering. Now it's all coming back. Did anybody actually socialize with them IRL that day, before the killings?

 

[tayaway]

Party was mentioned in this which I had posted to Facebook.
Nova Scotia shootings began after gunman attacked his girlfriend, sources say

Right, but that news article is from all the way back on April 23rd, and it's no longer accurate. As Misty mentioned, the authorities no longer reference that bit.

 

[Peace777]

I think it is human nature to want to know the motive, to know "why", if only so we can say, if this action causes these results, how can we change it? Whether that is possible, is for better minds than mine.
If his g/f ran to others there for assistance, and they became victims, I can only imagine the guilt she would feel.
I do wish the RCMP would hold a press conference again.

But she didn't run to the neighbors she ran into the bush for some reason. I am mystified why run into the dark woods instead of the neighbors? Did she overhear him saying he was going to the neighbors for some reason so then she would know not to run there correct? JMO

 

[Peace777]

This is bizarre!

'FBI: Most Wanted' episode days before N.S. shooting rampage features eerie similarities
In the episode, a man named Gabriel goes on a murderous spree while wearing his police uniform. Whether it influenced Gabriel Wortman may be unknowable
Brian Platt April 23, 2020 9:05 PM EDT Last Updated April 24, 2020 9:42 AM EDT

A man named Gabriel goes on a murderous spree while wearing his police uniform. Starting off in a small town, he shoots multiple people, including police officers. He appears obsessed with the woman he calls his girlfriend. As a manhunt closes in on him, he sets a house on fire.

This is not a recap of the awful events in Nova Scotia over the weekend. It is instead a recap of a scripted TV drama that aired in prime time in Nova Scotia just four days before Gabriel Wortman donned a police uniform and went on his rampage that left at least 23 people dead, the worst mass shooting in Canadian history.
‘FBI: Most Wanted’ episode days before N.S. shooting rampage features eerie similarities

Very eerie . And aired in that province!

 

[Errrr]

So maybe there was no party -

“On the night of April 18, Wortman and another person — a woman whose name is redacted but is presumed to be his common-law spouse at the time — were at their property on 136 Orchard Beach Dr. in Portapique, which police call “the warehouse.”

“During the evening an argument ensued,” during which Wortman assaulted the woman, the document says.

Before the rampage, Wortman and his common-law spouse were having drinks and Facetiming friends.

What happened next is redacted from the document but she told police Wortman “poured gasoline all inside the cottage” and leading to the warehouse, “so Gabriel could burn that.” He also poured gas onto his cars and Jeep.

He smashed her cell phone and didn’t have one himself, she said. Again what happened next is redacted until the woman escaped and fled into the woods...”
N.S. mass shooting: Documents show killer was ‘paranoid’ about COVID-19 pandemic before rampage

Maybe it was a Facebook party? Imagine assaulting someone in view of Facebook?

 

[Errrr]

But she didn't run to the neighbors she ran into the bush for some reason. I am mystified why run into the dark woods instead of the neighbors? Did she overhear him saying he was going to the neighbors for some reason so then she would know not to run there correct? JMO

The guy who drove to the perps burning house said there was a woman in car when he was shot so it sounds like our perp was on his way to burn some other houses after his own. We don’t know how many he did before she managed to escape from the back seat.

 

[Amoca]

Welcome to Websleuths Amoca! You may already know about Websleuths Covid-19 forum, but if you haven't seen it you can check it out here:
Coronavirus COVID-19 - Global Health Pandemic #57

There are also sub-forums like:
Canada - Coronavirus COVID-19

Which can be found here:
Coronavirus - Covid-19

The Websleuths Covid-19 forum is the best I've seen anywhere online.

I will check it out. I do go to Flutrackers, been a member for years, but that, and this shooting is what I'm into. Thank you for that info. I start talking about Cytokine storm, ground glass opacities, kidney failure...and my poor husband's eyes glaze over.

 

[Peace777]

so if there were reports filed- not only from family- but also close neighbors about the gunman's past behaviour, previous documented assault charges and his known collection of weapons- surely the police would have had past encounters with the gunman, yet i thought the Supt Campbell said he was not previously known to police?

Just my opinion the higher ups in the RCMP dropped the ball on this guy . He WAS a ticking time bomb. Those guns should have been confiscated and the replica police car taken away from him! This madman was boasting all over the place he had guns and having the fake cop car for awhile. Some tried to tell police but nothing was done?If I remember correctly someone had said the gf was seen driving the fake cop car. Was the car she drove 1 of the finished replica cop cars? JMO

 

[Amoca]

The guy who drove to the perps burning house said there was a woman in car when he was shot so it sounds like our perp was on his way to burn some other houses after his own. We don’t know how many he did before she managed to escape from the back seat.

The way they let it out at the beginning, it sounded like she was in the house he started to burn, now she was in the car. That's what's so frustrating, trying to figure out who, how, where, why...

I read weeks ago that he went to Wentworth, potentially looking for his girlfriend at the Correctional Officers house, as they knew each other (one said he was a hunting buddy, but if you don't have an FAC, you can't legally shoot anything here)

 

[NBKevadian]

So 5 weapons were found in the Mazda in Enfield, all of which were ready to fire. Safeties off, one in the chamber, one with the hammer pulled back!! Also found were spent casing?!!!
Did GW fire a weapon(s) while driving from the Shubenacadie denturist residence to Enfield, or actually fired at officers at the gas station??

 

[Tilly23]

So 5 weapons were found in the Mazda in Enfield, all of which were ready to fire. Safeties off, one in the chamber, one with the hammer pulled back!! Also found were spent casing?!!!
Did GW fire a weapon(s) while driving from the Shubenacadie denturist residence to Enfield, or actually fired at officers at the gas station??

I wondered about the spent casings too, NBKevadian. I don't remember hearing about any victims after GG. But then I remembered that victim GG's dog was shot and I thought it probably tried to chase him off her property and he may have shot at it from inside her car. Thankfully, I think I read that the dog was able to be treated and survived.

In addition to all those "ready to fire" guns, they also said "There were boxes of ammunition and a metal ammunition can on the front seat" of the Mazda. It seems the gunman was able to transfer all of these things from his fake cruiser, to victim JW's SUV and then to GG's Mazda. We already know he changed clothes at GG's, so he must have also taken the new clothing when he left the cruiser. It sounds like he was in a weirdly calm and deliberate state, despite all that he had just done.

MOO

 

[Tilly23]

Thanks for posting this Paganini. Combined with the National Post article which fleshesthe story out a bit more, it answers most of my questions about Portapique.

The Glenholme portion of the article provides details about the uninsured couple who hid from GW but is there a chance the helicopter either landed or used a megaphone from the air to call him out with his hands up?

“In a statement to RCMP, an acquaintance who first met the gunman eight years ago noted that they called 911 when they learned on the morning of April 19 that Wortman was wanted by police. About 10 to 15 minutes later, a marked police car showed up in the acquaintance's driveway in Glenholme, N.S. It was Wortman, and they called 911 again.

Much of the statement is redacted but it says the witness said they could hear a helicopter nearby and eventually heard their doorbell ring and they thought Wortman entered the house. Then they heard banging on the glass and someone said, "Come out with your hands up, Gabriel, come out with your hands up."

They then got a call saying Wortman had moved on toward the community of Lower Onslow and that they should remain inside.”

This story about the Glenholme couple who didn't answer the door also struck me as compelling, Marp.

I don't know about the helicopter, but I wonder if the gunman himself made the "banging on the glass" noises and said the "Come out with your hands up" line in order to try to lure them out? Perhaps he suspected they were home and that they might come out if they believed the real cops were there?

It's a strange story.

Also, I'll have to check the timeline, but when did the RCMP NS twitter feed identify that GW was wanted? Amazing that they saw that, called 911 and then he showed up at their place!

MOO

 

[Peace777]

This is purely my speculation but perhaps the common-law spouse doesn’t want the details released just yet? If so, RCMP would definitely respect her wishes as a victim of crime because her recovery is far more important than the public’s need to know.

Maybe so but what about the victim's families? I'm sure they'd like to know the true timeline of events too. JMO

 

[NBKevadian]

Response to Tilly23:
“

The first tweet was sent at 11:32 p.m. local time Saturday and said police were "responding to a firearms complaint" in Portapique, N.S. "The public is asked to avoid the area and stay in their homes with doors locked at this time."

The next message on the Nova Scotia RCMP Twitter account came at 6:02 a.m. Sunday, advising that police were still on the scene in Portapique and it was "an active shooter situation." At 6:54 a.m. the suspect was identified in a tweet and a photo was published.”
RCMP says it will look at how N.S. public was warned of active shooter threat

I believe the photo released at that time was the close up of GW and the photo of the mock RCMP cruiser was released after 8am the Of that morning.