U.S. citizens in N.S. received shooter alert

As an active shooter was on the loose in Nova Scotia Sunday morning, the U.S. Consulate in Halifax sent emailed alerts to its citizens warning of the danger at a time when the RCMP was using Twitter to communicate the news.

Questions have been raised as to why no emergency alerts were transmitted to Nova Scotians’ cellphones and television screens as a rampage was underway that would leave 23 dead, including the gunman.

When Premier Stephen McNeil was asked Wednesday why the province didn’t issue an emergency alert based on the Mounties’ Twitter feed, he said emergency officials couldn’t act until the RCMP had prepared an approved message.

“That’s the protocol in place when it comes to the (Emergency Management Office),” the premier told a news conference.

“The lead agency is the one that has to put the message together. We would not go from what’s happening on Twitter .... No message was received, even though EMO had reached out a number of times throughout the morning to the RCMP.”

At a news conference Wednesday, RCMP Chief Supt. Chris Leather said police received a 911 call of a firearms incident in Portapique, N.S., at 10:26 p.m. Saturday. They soon determined there had been a homicide but did not realize the suspect had left the area they were searching until 8:02 the next morning, he said.

He said the EMO contacted the RCMP at 10:15 a.m. to ask about sending an emergency message, and police were crafting a message when the suspect was killed almost two hours later.

Marcia R. Seitz-Ehler, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Consulate, said the consulate’s emailed alert warning of a shooter in Portapique and advising people to remain at home with their doors locked was drawn from information on the Nova Scotia RCMP Twitter account.

“It is our protocol — when emergencies occur — to alert U.S. citizens in the area to the situation,” she said. She did not immediately respond to an inquiry about what time the U.S. alert was sent. The first RCMP tweet about an active shooter was transmitted at 8:02 a.m. Sunday.

Residents of some of the five communities where the killer struck have said they would have changed their behaviour had an alert been sent.