Victims’ families file lawsuit
TRURO — A proposed class-action lawsuit has been filed against the Nova Scotia RCMP, claiming the force “breached the standard of care expected of them” during the mass shooting in mid-April, and acted in a “high-handed, self-serving and disrespectful manner” in its aftermath.
The lawsuit criticizes the RCMP's communication with the families and public, during and after the shooting, staffing levels and how it handled evidence, among other areas of concern.
Twenty-two people were killed by a gunman dressed as an RCMP officer, at times driving a replica police cruiser, during a rampage that started in Portapique on April 18 and ended more than 13 hours later in Enfield.
Tyler Blair and Andrew O'Brien are proposed representative plaintiffs of the lawsuit, filed in Nova Scotia Supreme Court by Sandra McCulloch, a lawyer with Patterson Law in Truro, on Tuesday.
Blair's father, Greg, and stepmother, Jamie, were killed in their home in Portapique on April 18. O'Brien's wife, Heather, was shot in her car in Masstown the next day.
The allegations made in the statement of claim have not been proven in court.
Blair and O'Brien say those killed by the gunman “were vulnerable members of society who relied exclusively” on the RCMP for its services. But the statement of claim says the RCMP failed to investigate reports of the gunman and his possession of illegal weapons, violence toward women and threats to harm police prior to his rampage.
Former Portapique resident Brenda Forbes said seven years ago she warned RCMP that her neighbour was a dangerous man. According to Forbes, she reported the gunman for domestic abuse and illegal weapons, but was eventually turned away as she wasn't a first-hand witness and didn't have photo evidence. Two years prior, an officer safety bulletin about the gunman was distributed to police agencies across Nova Scotia by the Truro Police Service. The bulletin, warning agencies the gunman “had a stash of guns and said he wanted to kill a cop,” had been purged from the system.
RCMP RESPONSE
The lawsuit also criticizes how the RCMP responded to the killing spree.
“The RCMP sent too few members to Portapique to adequately respond to the crimes being committed there by (the gunman),” it says.
It also criticizes the RCMP for sending information on Twitter rather than an emergency alert as the situation unfolded, claiming the population affected was older and less likely to use Twitter, the internet coverage in the area was inadequate and the information on Twitter was “incorrect or insufficient.”
Failing to secure a perimeter to stop the gunman from leaving the Portapique area, set up roadblocks in northern Colchester County or accept assistance from the Truro Police Service are among other items listed as how the RCMP “breached the standard of care expected of them.”
The lawsuit says the province, also named as a defendant in the case, breached its duties owed to the class members by failing to have in place policies and operational requirements for the investigation of illegal weapons complaints and domestic violence, or to adequately populate and provide resources to the RCMP in Colchester and Hants counties.