Canada shooting tied to girlfriend’s assault

TORONTO — Canada’s worst mass shooting resulted from an argument between the gunman and his girlfriend, who survived the attack, police confirmed Friday.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police Superintendent Darren Campbell said the weekend shooting rampage started with the man’s assault on his girlfriend and ended with 22 people dead in communities across central and northern Nova Scotia.

“She did manage to escape. That could well have been the catalyst of events,” Campbell said.

Campbell said the girlfriend hid overnight in the woods from the gunman, who has been identified as 51-yearold Gabriel Wortman.

Police have said Wortman acted alone in the shooting rampage that killed 22 people in more than 16 crime scenes in several rural communities.

Campbell said they found 13 deceased victims in Portapique, a rural and quiet community of 100 residents where Wortman lived part time. Campbell said that when police arrived, they discovered a man shot. The man reported he was driving when someone in what looked like a police car shot him. He survived and was taken to the hospital.

There were several homes on fire, including the suspect’s, when police arrived in the community. Campbell said the suspect had a pistol that was acquired in Canada and several long-barreled guns that were obtained in the United States. Police found “several people who were deceased, some of which were lying in the roadway.”

Authorities initially thought the gunman might have committed suicide and was in one of the homes that was on fire, Campbell said.

He said that at about 6:30 a.m., Wortman’s girlfriend emerged from the woods, called 911 and gave police detailed information about him, including that he was driving a mock police car and was in a police uniform.

Police later started receiving 911 calls more than 35 miles away. Campbell said Wortman killed two men and a woman and set their house on fire. He knew at least two of them. He then approached another home in that area where he knew people and knocked on the door, but the people did not answer and he left. The occupants called 911 and confirmed the man was armed and was driving what looked like a police car.

He then shot a woman on the street and pulled cars over and shot and killed more people, Campbell said.

He later shot and injured a police officer in his car. The officer managed to escape and survived. Campbell then said there was a collision between an officer’s police car and the gunman’s mock police car. He shot and killed the officer, took her gun and set fire to the cars. Campbell said he also killed a passerby and took their SUV.

He then drove to a house and killed a woman he knew before removing his police uniform and stealing her car. He then drove to get gas and was shot by a police officer who happened to be at the station refueling.