Shooter who killed 22 acquired gun from estate, document says
HALIFAX — A portion of a witness statement released Friday says the gunman who killed 22 people in Nova Scotia had “recently” acquired one of his firearms in Canada from the estate of a friend who died.
The disclosure following a court hearing still doesn’t provide the calibre or model of the five weapons that the shooter used during his 13-hour rampage.
Crown prosecutors released a few hidden details to a media consortium after a court hearing, though large sections of the court documents remain redacted.
The media group, which includes the Canadian Press, is seeking wider disclosure of the evidence police used to obtain search warrants related to the April 18-19 mass shooting.
The RCMP had said in a June 4 news conference that of the five firearms possessed by the killer, three were obtained illegally from the United States and one was obtained illegally in Canada “through the estate of a deceased associate.”
A witness statement to RCMP taken on April 19 — blacked out prior to Friday’s release — said the killer “just recently acquired guns from a friend who passed away.”
The witness, whose identity is redacted, also told officers he thought the shooter owned a bulletproof vest and collected guns. The witness described the gunman’s property on Portapique Beach Road as having a large garage with rooms upstairs. “There are lots of motorcycles and a RCMP car that [the gunman] was fixing up,” the statement said.
The Canadian Press has emailed the RCMP to ask for the date the gunman acquired the Canadian firearm, but a spokeswoman said she didn’t expect to be able to provide a response to that and other questions until next week.
The RCMP had confirmed the killer’s firearms included two semi-automatic handguns and two semi-automatic rifles but declined further details due to the ongoing investigation.
Gun-control advocates have said details about the firearms used are important to the discussion surrounding the federal government’s recent move to ban 1,500 types of military-style assault firearms, and other firearms legislation.
The fifth firearm was taken from RCMP Const. Heidi Stevenson after the gunman’s vehicle ran into hers and he killed her in an exchange of gunfire.
The Crown also released a sentence from a witness statement saying the gunman purchased material used for the RCMP decals on his replica vehicle on July 3, about nine months before his rampage.
On April 28, RCMP Supt. Darren Campbell told a news conference the shooter was believed to have obtained the vehicle last fall and outfitted it with the decals then.
The court also released a seventh search warrant, with large portions blacked out, in which officers sought records for the gunman’s landline telephone and a cellular phone.
It notes the gunman didn’t own a cellphone and he had smashed another person’s cellphone, which police believed was in the burnt remains of his home in Portapique.