RCMP says N.S. shooter was ‘injustice collector’
Killer illegally acquired guns used in rampage, Mounties confirm
HALIFAX—The gunman who killed 22 people in Nova Scotia during a 13-hour rampage was described by police Thursday as an “injustice collector” whose grudges built up over time and eventually exploded in horrific violence.
RCMP Supt. Darren Campbell told a briefing that a behavioural analysis of the killer determined he targeted some victims for perceived slights, though many others were chosen at random.
Citing preliminary work from RCMP profilers and a forensic psychologist, Campbell described the shooter as “one who held onto conflict or differences with others, turning them inward until they boiled over in rage.” He said a so-called psychological autopsy, which is in the works, will help police better understand the contributing factors behind one of the worst mass killings in Canadian history.
Injustice collectors “are individuals who may have felt slighted or cheated or disrespected at any point in their lives ... (and) these injustices are held onto,” said Campbell, the Nova Scotia RCMP’s officer in charge of support services.
The senior Mountie’s description of Gabriel Wortman’s psychological profile was as close as police have come to describing a motive. And it falls in line with what some of his neighbours in Portapique, N.S., have said about the otherwise gregarious 51-year-old denturist.
One neighbour in particular, John Hudson, has said the man he knew for 18 years was sometimes obsessed with petty jealousies and grievances about the look of his neighbours’ homes, past transgressions of relatives or the behaviour of his longtime common-law wife.
Thursday’s RCMP briefing, the first about the case in more than a month, also disclosed a number of police findings that contradicted earlier versions of what happened on April 18- 19.
After killing 13 people in Portapique on April 18, the killer murdered another nine people in five communities the following day. One of his victims was RCMP Const. Heidi Stevenson, whose cruiser collided with Wortman’s replica police car near Shubenacadie, N.S.
In late April, the union that represents RCMP officers said Stevenson had rammed her vehicle into the suspect’s oncoming car, but Campbell said a reconstruction of the crash revealed that wasn’t the case.
Campbell said the killer drove his vehicle the wrong way on a one-way street to purposely crash into Stevenson’s marked car. However, Campbell confirmed that Stevenson exchanged gunfire with the gunman before she was killed.
“She bravely engaged the gunman,” he said, noting that Stevenson was wearing what he described as soft and hard body armour.
As well, Campbell said earlier witness reports suggesting the gunman used his fake police cruiser to pull over vehicles and kill the drivers were untrue.
Campbell also took exception to reports suggesting the RCMP failed to communicate or co-operate with other police forces when the killer was still at large. As for the firearms used by the gunman, Campbell confirmed three of the five weapons he had with him on April 19 were obtained illegally in the U.S., one was obtained illegally in Canada and the fifth was taken from Stevenson. Police are aware of where the illegal firearms came from, but Campbell did not release details.