A REPORT FROM AN INDEPENDENT WATCHDOG REVEALS THE FATAL SHOOTING OF NOVA SCOTIA MASS KILLER GABRIEL WORTMAN OCCURRED AFTER TWO MOUNTIES HAPPENED TO PULL UP AT A GAS PUMP NEXT TO WORTMAN'S CAR.

$705,000 found in home after bloody spree

HALIFAX • A new report from an independent police watchdog reveals that the April 19 fatal shooting of the Nova Scotia mass killer occurred after two RCMP officers happened to pull up at a gas pump next to the gunman's vehicle.

Nova Scotia's Serious Incident Response Team says when the officers arrived at the Enfield, N.S., gas station, it was not known Gabriel Wortman had switched vehicles and was driving a grey Mazda3 stolen from a victim.

The watchdog agency's report says two officers stopped at a pump next to the Mazda, and when the officer who was driving got out to refuel, he saw a man with a noticeable injury and blood on his forehead.

The report says the driver recognized the gunman, who had killed 22 people in a rampage beginning the previous night, drew his service weapon and alerted his partner that Wortman was in the vehicle next to theirs.

The agency says the second officer moved across the front of the vehicle and Wortman raised the pistol he had stolen from RCMP Const. Heidi Stevenson, whom he had killed about 30 minutes earlier. Both officers opened fire and Wortman died at the scene.

Nova Scotia's police watchdog concludes the officers were justified in their actions and no charges are warranted.

The report is the latest piece of a widening portrait of Wortman's rampage. Details of how he acquired his weapons and stockpiled cash emerged on Wednesday in a court-ordered release of documents.

An unidentified witness who knew Wortman told police on May 20, “Gabriel must have thought about this for a long time.”

The statement is part of the latest release of witness statements obtained by police in order to seek search warrants as part of an investigation of the April 18-19 murders.

According to a police summary of the case, a search of Wortman's home in Portapique, N.S., after the killings, “resulted in the seizure of $705,000.” In March, the killer had liquidated some of his investments and picked up $475,000 in $100 bills from a Brinks office in Halifax.

His common-law spouse Lisa Banfield, who managed to escape on the night of April 18 after being assaulted and handcuffed, told police in an interview that her partner was growing increasingly distressed about the pandemic.

She said he was “talking about death and said that he knew he was going to die.”