N.S. police got warnings in 2011 about mass killer

Gunman was known to have mental issues, desire to ‘kill a cop’

HALIFAX—A newly released document reveals that in May 2011, police were told the Nova Scotia man who would later kill 22 people in a shooting rampage wanted to “kill a cop” and was feeling mentally unstable.

The officer-safety bulletin, submitted by the Truro Police Service, does not include names in the version released to media, but police Chief David MacNeil confirmed Friday the subject in question was Gabriel Wortman. The report says a Truro police officer had received information from a source indicating Wortman was upset about a police investigation into a break-and-enter and had “stated he wants to kill a cop.” “He believes the police did not do their job in relation to this investigation,” it says.

The officer goes on to say he was told Wortman owned a handgun and was having some “mental issues” that left him feeling stressed and “a little squirrelly.”

The document, first obtained by the CBC, says Wortman was also investigated for uttering death threats aimed at his parents less than a year earlier in June 2010, which led police to conclude he may be in possession of several rifles, though it’s not clear which force conducted the investigation.

The one-page bulletin represents another detailed warning that police received about the killer before the tragic events of April 18-19 in central and northern Nova Scotia.

Earlier this month, a former neighbour of Wortman’s said she reported his domestic violence and cache of firearms to the RCMP years ago.

Brenda Forbes said that in the summer of 2013, she told police about reports that Wortman had held down and beaten his common-law spouse behind one of the properties he owned.

The RCMP have said they are looking for the police record of the incident.

MacNeil says the patrol officer who prepared the bulletin — Cpl. Greg Densmore — submitted it to the Criminal Intelligence Service of Nova Scotia for analysis and distribution to other police forces.

“Our officer did exactly what was expected of him,” MacNeil said in a statement Friday. “He took the information seriously, documented it and submitted this information.”

MacNeil said it was safe to assume the Amherst Police Department also received the bulletin because it was one of their officers who retrieved it from files on April 18 — the day Wortman’s rampage started — and sent it to those investigating the unfolding tragedy.

“Since neither of the addresses mentioned in this information were in the jurisdiction of the Truro Police Service, we were not obligated to follow up on this information, as this would fall to the police agencies of jurisdiction,” MacNeil said. “We can’t comment on what those agencies may have done or didn’t do with this information.”