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

[susiQ]

The three other vehicles were plated, so they had to also be registered (it's my understanding that you can’t plate a vehicle in Nova Scotia without first registering it, right? . So, unless I’m missing something, there were four vehicles registered under his name, no? Why did the RCMP background search Supt. Campbell refers to (48:03 of Supt. Campbell’s 4/24 press conference video) on Saturday night only turn up three? (Is it possible the fourth was registered under someone else’s name?…the girlfriend?… a family member?)…I don’t mean to belabor the point, but I would hope that knowing one vehicle was unaccounted for on Saturday night would have prompted the RCMP to issue an emergency alert, which would likely have saved at least some of the nine people who were killed on Sunday.

One white vehicle was at his practice/home in Dartmouth. One was in a garage on Orchard Beach Rd., likely the one he drove that looked almost identical to a RCMP cruiser. I think what they found at his burned out property was likely two white retired service vehicles and his regular vehicle, what ever that was. I doubt he drove to the cottage in one of the white cars. (DBM)
ed: can't find specific quote referencing GW's civilian vehicle.

 

[dotr]

One white vehicle was at his practice/home in Dartmouth. One was in a garage on Orchard Beach Rd., likely the one he drove that looked almost identical to a RCMP cruiser. I think what they found at his burned out property was likely two white retired service vehicles and likely his regular vehicle, what ever that was. I doubt he drove to the cottage in one of the white cars. I can't find the clip now of the gentleman in New Brunswick who GW wanted to buy a vehicle from (and he didn't as he felt the owner was asking too much), but he mentioned the type of vehicle GW was driving. BMW I think, but don't quote me.

Moncton man says Portapique, N.S., shooter tried to buy a used police car from him
''A New Brunswick man who sells decommissioned police cars is recalling an encounter with the man responsible for the mass shooting in Nova Scotia on Sunday.

“Pretty plain spoken — there wasn’t anything crazy about him at all,” said Bernard Cain, owner of Cain Ltd surplus shop in Moncton.''

 

[ab01]

I think this is something that will be discussed in the future with specific parameters set. As for me, not that I live on the edge - unless there’s a known dangerous threat in the area where I work or live, I’d prefer not to receive a “might be” alert, requesting that I hide.

I’m sure the approximate location information would be in the alert. As it was Friday when they sent out the Halifax alert. I have no problem receiving an alert, looking at it and saying nope that’s 200km away press a button to dismiss. I guess to each their own, it’s amazing what we are annoyed with now a days. Oh no not a potentially life saving alert for an area I’m not in, now I have to hit a button to dismiss it.

eta I’d rather be annoyed by an inconvenient warning than die In ignorant bliss

 

[dotr]

‘Pandemic of violence’: Calls mount for recognition of misogyny in Nova Scotia shooting
''On Friday, a group of Nova Scotian feminists wrote a statement that said misogyny and domestic violence were part of the shooting’s narrative. In the letter, they urged the RCMP to provide clarity on what they outlined as the “femicidal” aspects of the murders, demanding an inquiry into the investigation that would provide feminist analysis.

The letter acknowledged that not all of the victims were women or girls — nine victims were men — but the group said they viewed misogynist violence as being at the root of the attack.''

 

[Marp]

[

I agree and I don’t see why it’s not ok to ask these difficult questions, they need to be asked, they need to be investigated and changes likely need to be made about how these situations are handled in the future. There was at the very least a communication breakdown at very high levels of a few agencies imo

just to be clear I’m not leveling blame at first responders (boots on the ground etc)

But someone needed to make the decision to alert the public of potential danger! And the fact it didn’t happen was an absolute failure imo

Yes perhaps an alert should have gone out. But this is a fairly new system in Canada and perhaps needs some tweaking.

From the end of week PC we learned that there is a chain of command from the on the ground officers up to the provincial head quarters and then it had to go to a separate organization to have it posted. It was being drafted on Sunday when *** was shot.

From our recent experiences in Ontario the out cry from the public at getting these screaming alarms (usually amber alerts or recently a false nuclear power plant alert) on our phones at midnight and sometimes after I’m sure affects the issuing of them. We’ve had no alerts for shootings.

Perhaps a gentler alarm sound?

I think it was Friday that at least two alerts went out for the Tantallon/Hubley area of HRM. All false alarms from an understandably jittery public. So the “boy who cried wolf” balance has to be struck. Everyone is on edge now and accepting but how will it be in a few months if the people of Yarmouth get an alarm every time someone pulls a gun in downtown Halifax.

I’ve learned to turn off the sound on my phone at night.

Tweak and use sparingly.

 

[ab01]

‘Pandemic of violence’: Calls mount for recognition of misogyny in Nova Scotia shooting
''On Friday, a group of Nova Scotian feminists wrote a statement that said misogyny and domestic violence were part of the shooting’s narrative. In the letter, they urged the RCMP to provide clarity on what they outlined as the “femicidal” aspects of the murders, demanding an inquiry into the investigation that would provide feminist analysis.

The letter acknowledged that not all of the victims were women or girls — nine victims were men — but the group said they viewed misogynist violence as being at the root of the attack.''

Not that I disagree, but I do find it amusing when groups jump in quickly before they even know for certain what the shooters motives were jmo

 

[ab01]

[


Yes perhaps an alert should have gone out. But this is a fairly new system in Canada and perhaps needs some tweaking.

From the end of week PC we learned that there is a chain of command from the on the ground officers up to the provincial head quarters and then it had to go to a separate organization to have it posted. It was being drafted on Sunday when *** was shot.

From our recent experiences in Ontario the out cry from the public at getting these screaming alarms (usually amber alerts or recently a false nuclear power plant alert) on our phones at midnight and sometimes after I’m sure affects the issuing of them. We’ve had no alerts for shootings.

Perhaps a gentler alarm sound?

I think it was Friday that at least two alerts went out for the Tantallon/Hubley area of HRM. All false alarms from an understandably jittery public. So the “boy who cried wolf” balance has to be struck. Everyone is on edge now and accepting but how will it be in a few months if the people of Yarmouth get an alarm every time someone pulls a gun in downtown Halifax.

I’ve learned to turn off the sound on my phone at night.

Tweak and use sparingly.

I was only advocating for an alarm for a potential mass killer on the loose, I think the alerts would be very few and far between imo

 

[MistyWaters]

This is not an ordinary crime, this is the worst mass shooting in your country’s history. And it didn’t happen at once: it happened in two distinct waves with the people murdered on the second day unaware of what happened the night before because of the lack of an alert.

Amber alerts started when people looked at what could be done better after a tragic kidnapping. That’s why it’s important to look at the facts and see what can be improved without getting defensive.

I think everyone discussing this has been going out of their way to be clear they are not criticizing the brave first responders who did their best rushing into this unprecedented crisis. Heck, the Halifax PD social media person is a hero and may have prevented deaths if people were aware of the shooter and stayed inside because of that person’s fantastic alerts.

But if I lived in NS - and we live only a few hours away - I would want to know who made the decision to not send out an alert while the Halifax PD was tweeting and begging people to stay inside. That’s not finding a scapegoat or being cruel, that’s understanding what happened and why.

With respect, often there’s public criticism when Amber Alerts are not issued and usually that’s because the specific criteria isn’t met, which includes naming an identifiable vehicle with its licence plate number.

If the same criteria were applied to Shooter alerts, police indeed faced difficulty in knowing what vehicle the suspect was driving as 3 different vehicles that we know of were involved over a very short period of time on the Sunday.

Sadly, I don’t think there is one easy answer in regard to prevention.

 

[MistyWaters]

I’m sure the approximate location information would be in the alert. As it was Friday when they sent out the Halifax alert. I have no problem receiving an alert, looking at it and saying nope that’s 200km away press a button to dismiss. I guess to each their own, it’s amazing what we are annoyed with now a days. Oh no not a potentially life saving alert for an area I’m not in, now I have to hit a button to dismiss it.

eta I’d rather be annoyed by an inconvenient warning than die In ignorant bliss

I agree, the challenge would be to differentiate Emergency Alerts from what appears to be News Alerts.

 

[LadyL]

As was stated, it's never been the case that Canadians have been alerted to an ongoing crime by a provincial alert system. It just isn't police procedure.

Should all of Ontario be alerted whenever a gunman is loose in Toronto - or should even all Toronto residents? I think they'd have a strong opinions about that, too.

I think this was a unique crime, because it was an area where this type of crime is unprecedented. Of course people are upset, they have a right to be upset. I think blaming police is an unfortunate response, it's scapegoating people who did their damndest to protect people, putting their own lives at risk, and yet, instead of gratitude, people say 'not good enough'.

ITA!!!

 

[MistyWaters]

Below is an example of how quickly panic can spread via social media by unfounded rumours. In the NS case there was indeed an active shooter who unpredictably travelled to different location but if a broad Emergency Alert had been issued, I wonder how many 911 calls would’ve been made of sightings of a possible active shooter from various locations?

IMO It’s absolutely disgusting how there seems to be a small segment of the population who actually get off by creating fear via social media.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/canmore-hospital-lockdown-1.5545446
“Rumours circulated on social media that police were responding to an active shooter situation but those rumours were unfounded and there is no threat to public safety, police said.”

 

[Marysmith]

With respect, often there’s public criticism when Amber Alerts are not issued and usually that’s because the specific criteria isn’t met, which includes naming an identifiable vehicle with its licence plate number.

If the same criteria were applied to Shooter alerts, police indeed faced difficulty in knowing what vehicle the suspect was driving as 3 different vehicles that we know of were involved over a very short period of time on the Sunday.

Sadly, I don’t think there is one easy answer in regard to prevention.

I agree. The perp did what he could to confuse LE and make it harder to track.
However, I also agree that 3 victims may not have left their homes if they knew but others could have sheltered in their basements and perished in a fire or been shot when they walked out...
It was a nightmare situation for everyone.
I believe that changes will be made and LE in Nova Scotia will learn things that they could have done differently and change protocols - which hopefully will never be needed.

 

[BearCatSafari]

Two of the things I wonder about -

1) A trivial point, but given what a perfectionist he is, I'm surprised he didn't put a plate on the car. I realize there weren't a lot of cars out and about that would see him, but I find cars without plates catch my eye and I then start looking for the temp certificate....

Just speculating... Perhaps it wasn't plated because he hadn't gotten around to it yet. Perhaps because the RMV closest to him was closed due to Covid?

I wonder if he spent some down time, due to the pandemic, dressing up the car he used.

 

[otto]

‘Pandemic of violence’: Calls mount for recognition of misogyny in Nova Scotia shooting
''On Friday, a group of Nova Scotian feminists wrote a statement that said misogyny and domestic violence were part of the shooting’s narrative. In the letter, they urged the RCMP to provide clarity on what they outlined as the “femicidal” aspects of the murders, demanding an inquiry into the investigation that would provide feminist analysis.

The letter acknowledged that not all of the victims were women or girls — nine victims were men — but the group said they viewed misogynist violence as being at the root of the attack.''

I don't think this is the time for a special interest group to be seeking attention in the context of a mass murder that is completely unlike the École Polytechnique massacre in 1989.

 

[BearCatSafari]

I don't think this is the time for a special interest group to be seeking attention in the context of a mass murder that is completely unlike the École Polytechnique massacre in 1989.

This murderer had a history of abuse towards at least one female partner. Most recently, the night he started killing.

I'm not saying it's like Polytechnique, I'm just saying I can see why some may see similarities.

 

[otto]

I agree. The perp did what he could to confuse LE and make it harder to track.
However, I also agree that 3 victims may not have left their homes if they knew but others could have sheltered in their basements and perished in a fire or been shot when they walked out...
It was a nightmare situation for everyone.
I believe that changes will be made and LE in Nova Scotia will learn things that they could have done differently and change protocols - which hopefully will never be needed.

I don't think anyone can claim today that victims would have done something different had they known that a man shot many neighbours in Portapique and may have shot someone in Wentworth. Wouldn't people in Enfield think that it was too far away to worry about?

I understand the wishful thinking of people regretful that a family member crossed paths with the shooter, but even in a large city - when there is a shooter on one end of the city, everyone carries on as normal because it's far enough away on the other side of the city.

 

[otto]

This murderer had a history of abuse towards at least one female partner. Most recently, the night he started killing.

I'm not saying it's like Polytechnique, I'm just saying I can see why some may see similarities.

At this time, it looks like his victims - men and women - were chosen because he felt they had wronged him at some time in the past. That has nothing to do with misogyny.

 

[Errrr]

I don't think anyone can claim today that victims would have done something different had they known that a man shot many neighbours in Portapique and may have shot someone in Wentworth. Wouldn't people in Enfield think that it was too far away to worry about?

I understand the wishful thinking of people regretful that a family member crossed paths with the shooter, but even in a large city - when there is a shooter on one end of the city, everyone carries on as normal because it's far enough away on the other side of the city.

Even if they were told to stay inside, wouldn’t they have opened the door to an apparent RCMP?
If the perps name were out there as a POE, I think fewer people would have opened the door. They knew his name Saturday night.

 

[BearCatSafari]

At this time, it looks like his victims - men and women - were chosen because he felt they had wronged him at some time in the past. That has nothing to do with misogyny.

That's true. But his abuse towards his partner was a misogynist attack.

I think if one were to address this part of the article posted;

"The letter acknowledged that not all of the victims were women or girls — nine victims were men — but the group said they viewed misogynist violence as being at the root of the attack.''

One could come to the conclusion that a domestic dispute, followed by him abusing his female partner perhaps led to the violence and murders that ensued.

I'm not advocating anything. I'm just saying I can see where they're coming from.

 

[kmclaren]

Even if they were told to stay inside, wouldn’t they have opened the door to an apparent RCMP?
If the perps name were out there as a POE, I think fewer people would have opened the door. They knew his name Saturday night.

By they, I assume you mean the RCMP? How did they know, what time was it confirmed and by whom?