Mounties defend rampage response

Senior officer says use of Twitter during massacre was effective

HALIFAX—Under fire for how they alerted the public to a 12hour massacre that took the lives of 22 people, the Nova Scotia RCMP defended their actions Wednesday, saying their use of Twitter was effective.

Since the horrific string of killings started Saturday night and stretched into Sunday morning, questions have been raised as to why the province did not use an emergency alert system to transmit warnings to Nova Scotians’ cellphones and television screens.

RCMP Chief Supt. Chris Leather said tweets from the RCMP started Saturday at 10:26 p.m., when the Mounties warned of a firearms complaint in Portapique, a village about 130 kilometres north of Halifax.

Leather read from a statement Wednesday making it clear he was aware the RCMP’s communication with the public was under scrutiny.

“From that initial call, our response was dynamic and fluid, with members using their training to assess what was going on while encountering the unimaginable,” he said.

“Critical incident command staff were processing fastchanging information related to what was unfolding in front of them.”

The senior Mountie said officers on the scene at Portapique Beach Road quickly learned there had been a number of fatal shootings among some seasonal and permanent homes, some of which were on fire. However, police weren’t aware the shooter had left the area until 8:02 a.m. on Sunday.

“Until the following day, we had some idea where the suspect was located, some theories — but we had no idea,” he said.

The first RCMP tweet about an active shooter on the loose was sent at 8:02 a.m.

As well, Leather confirmed it was between 7 and 8 a.m. that police learned from a witness that the suspect was dressed as an RCMP officer and driving a vehicle that looked exactly like a police cruiser.

That disturbing information, including a photo of the car, wasn’t relayed on Twitter until 10:21 a.m.

Leather said the provincial Emergency Management Office contacted the RCMP at 10:15 a.m. to ask about sending an emergency message, but the alert was never sent out.

The Mounties were still crafting a message when the suspect was killed almost two hours later at a gas station in Enfield, N.S., about 90 kilometres south of Portapique — and within the Halifax region.

When asked about the lag in getting out such an urgent message, Leather indicated there were delays within the chain of command.