CANADA - shooter in RCMP vehicle and uniform, 23 killed - Portapique, NS *suspect dead*

[otto]

I can't imagine how he could've started such large fires so quickly without using some sort of accelerant, especially from the exterior.

Propane was mentioned early on. Does everyone have a barbecue?

 

[casesensitive]

We don't have any knowledge of his break up and divorce..when it happened, who left who and why, how much the divorce negatively affected his financial position, how the split affected his mental health. His ex wife and her bf appear to be is first target.

Based on his nephew's report about how he screwed him out of his home, I think we can assume that his greed for money defined him. And he didn't go through a divorce without losing money, which probably made his ex-wife his first revenge target.

But if that is even true or relevant, it doesn't explain his continued rampage of setting fires and killing people he knew and people who he didn't know at random. There is an unknown explanation to his story, and I hope that his victim's loved ones we will have answers to "why". They need to know why.

 

[otto]

Why did the killer change his clothes do you think? Did he have blood on his jacket? Did he intend to stand on the road somewhere pretending to be securing the perimeter? Was he too hot? Did he know there was a surveillance camera there? In case someone had a description of what he was wearing?

I think he was going to ditch the car and step out in some other role prior to skipping town - such as : road worker directing people away from the shooter. It's almost as though his plan was going perfectly until he was here (post upthread) at 10:02AM on April 19, 24 hours after he started shooting people.

 

[Halifax_Observer]

First time posting, but always enjoy following WS discussion.

I don't think anyone mentioned this yet, but I don't think this was ever recovered....

Service pistol stolen from off-duty RCMP officer in Halifax: police

 

[otto]

We don't have any knowledge of his break up and divorce..when it happened, who left who and why, how much the divorce negatively affected his financial position, how the split affected his mental health. His ex wife and her bf appear to be is first target.

Based on his nephew's report about how he screwed him out of his home, I think we can assume that his greed for money defined him. And he didn't go through a divorce without losing money, which probably made his ex-wife his first revenge target.

But if that is even true or relevant, it doesn't explain his continued rampage of setting fires and killing people he knew and people who he didn't know at random. There is an unknown explanation to his story, and I hope that his victim's loved ones we will have answers to "why". They need to know why.

At this time, we don't know that his ex-girlfriend and her boyfriend were murdered. That is a rumour. He shot many neighbours, so I think it's fair to say that he was holding grudges against a lot of people. There's no other way to explain all the murdered people that knew him.

He's shameless in terms of pulling the rug out from under people who trusted him.

 

[otto]

First time posting, but always enjoy following WS discussion.

I don't think anyone mentioned this yet, but I don't think this was ever recovered....

Service pistol stolen from off-duty RCMP officer in Halifax: police

Thank you! If it is the same weapon, then we know how long he was planning this.

"Police are investigating after a service pistol was stolen from an off-duty RCMP officer’s vehicle in downtown Halifax on the weekend.

Halifax Regional Police say the firearm was taken from the officer’s personal vehicle in the 1700 block of Granville Street between 7:40 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Saturday.

Three magazines and ammunition were also stolen."
​

March 19, 2019
Service pistol stolen from off-duty RCMP officer in Halifax: police

 

[otto]

We have a timeline! First 911 call at 10:26, police arrived 12 minutes later at 10:38. One brother went to see if he could help, another brother followed a few minutes later. He found his brother lying dead on the road, and hid for the next 4 hours amidst more gunfire and burning buildings.

"Ellison called the fire department and after a few minutes set out to join his 42-year-old sibling."​

How did he get past RCMP, or did they not realize that his car was a mock-up? The couple that is alive - hid when he arrived with guns in a mock-up vehicle. They must be in Wentworth if police didn't know what he was posing as an RCMP officer until the following morning.

"The initial 911 call, reporting the sound of gunshots in the tiny beach community of Portapique, N.S., was logged at 10:26 p.m. AT on Saturday. But when officers arrived 12 minutes later, they quickly understood that the situation was much more dire."​

https://www.cbc.ca/news/nova-scotia-shooting-manhunt-details-1.5542025

 

[otto]

I'm wondering how this played out in his neighbourhood if police arrived within 12 minutes of the first gunshots and house fire. Is this the path he took before he went to Wentworth in the morning? Did he slip out in the middle of the night while police were swarming the area trying to get a sense of what was going on?

 

[Hazelnutty]

Curious as to if and what accelerant was used and how he carried it to each location.

Where was he thru the night? When not actively murdering these poor people and burning their homes?

 

[otto]

The more I read, the more I'm a bit dumbfounded. They don't know whether they caught the shooter at 11:21PM April 18? Are RCMP not talking to each other as they swarm the area?

"Do we know if they've caught the assailant?" a first responder asked dispatch at 11:21 p.m.

"No, not for sure," was the response. "They don't know if they've caught him."

In fact, it wasn't until early Sunday — sometime between 7 a.m. and 8 a.m. according to Leather — that investigators finally came to understand that their suspect, Gabriel Wortman, was likely wearing an RCMP uniform and driving a replica police cruiser.

That information wasn't shared with the public until 10:17 a.m., in a tweet."​

https://www.cbc.ca/news/nova-scotia-shooting-manhunt-details-1.5542025

I have to agree with victims who have spoken out regarding the absence of notification. At the same time, I can understand police thinking that if they send an alert via phone the shooter will know that they're looking for him. He knew anyway - a bit of confused thinking about how to keep people safe without using phone alerts.

 

[otto]

Question is : where was he between midnight and 8AM April 18/19 ?

"Security video obtained by CBC offers a glimpse of him as he passed through the community of Millbrook, some 40 kilometres away from the initial crime scene, shortly before 11 a.m.

It shows the replica RCMP cruiser pulling into a roadside parking lot and a uniformed man exiting the vehicle, then casually removing his coat and donning a yellow reflective vest over his shirt.

He then sets off again, heading south along Highway 2 toward Halifax."​

At 8AM he was identified as impersonating a police officer.

"Cellphone video, presumably taken moments later and now circulating online, shows two burning cruisers on the on-ramp and heavily armed tactical officers searching the area as one of their colleagues drags the wounded officer to safety behind an armoured vehicle.

"I am currently treating a member in the back of an ambulance," a first responder radios at 11:21 a.m.

The RCMP said on Wednesday that their manhunt ended at 11:26 a.m. after Wortman was killed in a gun battle at a gas station in Enfield, 16 kilometres south of where Stevenson was killed."​

https://www.cbc.ca/news/nova-scotia-shooting-manhunt-details-1.5542025

 

[otto]

Civic Address Finder

 

[otto]

The shooter tried to swindle his uncle as well. The address in dispute with his uncle is one of the shooting locations, 300 meters from the shooter's home. This is where Lisa McCully lived. She was the elementary school teacher.

I suppose the shooter was still upset about the property because he failed to swindle his uncle out of the property. That dates to 2010.

"Wortman also had a financial dispute with a relative that ended up in court.

In June 2015, Glynn Wortman filed an application in Supreme Court to have his nephew removed from the title of a property at 135 Orchard Beach Dr. in Portapique.

Gabriel Wortman had provided bridge financing to help Glynn Wortman buy the property in 2010. Glynn Wortman said he repaid his nephew the money, $165,000, in 2011.

Glynn Wortman said he also paid all expenses for Gabriel to travel to Edmonton to help him sell his condo and that he had footed the entire bill for heating, electricity, insurance, maintenance and taxes since buying the home.

He also said he had transferred $9,946 to Gabriel Wortman in 2012 to reimburse him for goods and services he had purchased for the property on his behalf.

In an affidavit, Glynn Wortman said Gabriel Wortman at one point in time, as a reason for refusing to release his name on the title to the property, claimed it was his uncle’s intention to give him the home as a gift, “but I have never had that intention.
...

The home was sold to Lisa McCully in early 2015, but the funds from the sale were held in trust by a Truro law firm pending a settlement agreement between Gabriel Wortman and his uncle.

A Supreme Court judge granted an order releasing the funds to Glynn Wortman in July 2015.”​

Nova Scotia gunman's past included questionable financial dealings | The Chronicle Herald

 

[otto]

Regarding whether the mock-up car had an antennae, it did.

 

[musicaljoke]

As of tonight, April 22, 2020 there are still 4 people missing.

Welcome to Websleuths, RNBB. I pray that the remaining missing will be found today and that peace will fill the hearts of all who are suffering so much in this time of great grief.

 

[Just4TB]

First time posting, but always enjoy following WS discussion.

I don't think anyone mentioned this yet, but I don't think this was ever recovered....

Service pistol stolen from off-duty RCMP officer in Halifax: police

Interesting... even if it wasn't GW that stole the firearm, given that he was not licensed, he had acquired firearms - which had to be from irreputable sources. It is very unfortunate that the RCMP have a bad track record of stolen / misplaced weapons in Canada. A picture of the specific model that was stolen - Smith and Wesson 5946 - RCMP issue...

 

[Just4TB]

Additional info on GW property shared ownership...
Frank Magazine Atlantic on Twitter

Property records say he owns two properties in Portapique, Colchester County, 200 Portapique Beach Road and 136 Orchard Beach Drive. He owns both properties with Paul Wortman and Evelyn Wortman of Moncton; both also formerly had an interest in the denture clinic property as well.

 

[Just4TB]

The annoying smile and big teeth are down... great gesture for the locals whom petitioned for it.

 

[jaxb]

At this time, we don't know that his ex-girlfriend and her boyfriend were murdered. That is a rumour. He shot many neighbours, so I think it's fair to say that he was holding grudges against a lot of people. There's no other way to explain all the murdered people that knew him.

He's shameless in terms of pulling the rug out from under people who trusted him.

I believe he knew Sean and/or Alanna personally and went to Wentworth specifically for them.

 

[Inthedetails]

First time posting, but always enjoy following WS discussion.

I don't think anyone mentioned this yet, but I don't think this was ever recovered....

Service pistol stolen from off-duty RCMP officer in Halifax: police

Welcome - glad you decided to join in with WS discussions.