HALIFAX – The investigation into the mass shooting in Nova Scotia in 2020 will address this week one of the most controversial aspects of the RCMP’s handling of the tragedy: public communications.
Mounties has faced intense criticism for delaying the release of key information about the killer during his rampage, and last month there was confirmation that a senior officer was being investigated for his role in controlling the flow of information.
“There is still speculation in the public about the lack of transparency in the communication process,” said Christopher Schneider, a professor of sociology at Brandon University in Manitoba who teaches mass media and police. “This is not good for restoring confidence in the RCMP.”
The Committee of Inquiry has heard that late on 18 April 2020, the RCMP published its first public statement on the start of the killer’s riot in rural Portapique, NS, where the 911’s first call was at 22:01. A total of 13 people were killed in Portapik that night.
Although police know the victims were killed and an active shooter may still be at large, the RCMP posted a seemingly innocuous tweet at 11:32 p.m., saying officers were investigating a “firearms complaint” – a relatively common occurrence in rural setting.
In addition, a series of 911 calls and eyewitness accounts made it clear that the killer was driving a car that looked like a marked RCMP cruiser. But this information was kept by the public until the next day, mainly because the mountains could not confirm what they said or simply could not believe it, the investigation found.
According to eyewitness accounts and documents released by the commission, Mounties considered issuing a more detailed public warning that night, but never did.
Shortly after midnight, however, RCMP officers received the suspect’s name and photo. And at 1:09 a.m., police across the province were warned of an “ongoing active shooter incident” involving an “armed and dangerous” suspect in an “old police car.”
According to the commission’s investigation, the RCMP’s discussions on “media reports” gained new urgency the next day at around 7:30 a.m. when police received a photo of a replica of the killer’s patrol car and were told it was full of weapons and could be everywhere in the countryside.
At this point, the Chief Assistant of the RCMP. Chris Leder has made public statements, according to a recently released summary of the evidence.
In personal notes provided to the inquiry, Leder confirmed the conversation with Leah Scanlan, Director of Strategic Communications at Nova Scotia RCMP at 7:43 a.m.
“Information to the public – tweets,” his notes said. “Photo and name – not there right now.”
At 8 a.m. the staff sergeant. Adi McCallum was asked to speak to Scanlan about creating a media report with photos of the suspect and his car. But there was a one-hour delay that has not yet been explained.
Nearly 10 hours after the shooter killed his first victim, Mounties posted his first tweet announcing an “active shooter situation” in Portapik at 8:02 a.m. But the tweet did not mention the suspect’s name or anything about his escape car. It is also not clear that he is on the move.
Relatives of some of the victims say that if the RCMP provided earlier public warnings with this key information, several lives could be saved.
At 8:04 a.m., the RCMP issued an internal signal to its members stating that the suspect was potentially using a fully marked Ford Taurus police cruiser and could be anywhere in the province. The same message was then sent to all police departments in the province.
By 8:54 a.m., the RCMP had sent a tweet that included a photo identifying 51-year-old Gabriel Wortman as a suspect, but there was still no mention of his car.
The inquiry found that shortly after 9 o’clock in the morning a staff sergeant. Bruce Briars contacted Sergeant Sergeant. Al-Carroll to ask if there was a press release about the car. Carol, the District Commander of Colchester County, later replied: “It was thought to vacate the vehicle, but it was decided not to do so.”
It remains unclear who made this decision. At least one senior officer claims that no such decision has been made.
According to a summary of the evidence published on 13 May, the commission is now investigating “whether the public disclosure of the replica of the RCMP information was delayed or refused at some point, by whom and why”.
Senior RCMP officials told the investigation that they were reluctant to disclose details about the vehicle, as they feared such information could panic the public and flood the 911 system.
“This is an illustration of the fact that the RCMP does not trust the common sense of society,” said Wayne McKay, an honorary professor in the law school at Dalhousie University in Halifax. “There is no doubt that there will be some panic … but I think they should have had a little more trust in the good sense of the public.
Regardless of Mounties’ rationale, questions remain about what happened after 9:11 a.m. when Leder, the RCMP’s deputy commander in the province that morning, sent an email requesting a copy of the report sent to police for the suspect and his vehicle replica. .
According to the commission, “another investigation is underway into the role of chief deputy. Leather … in connection with the publication of information on the RCMP cruiser replica. “
Scott Blandford, a former police sergeant in London, Ont., Said he could not comment on whether RCMP chiefs should be involved in public communication, but said involving police chiefs in media reports was not a practice when he was with the London Police Department.
“As a general rule, the incident commander is the first officer at the scene, and only in extremely rare circumstances are they removed from a higher rank,” said Blandford, who teaches police at Wilfried Lorie University in Waterloo, Ont.
The inquiry found that a draft tweet showing a photo of the cruiser’s replica was approved at 9:49 a.m. But again, there was another unexplained delay.
It wasn’t until 10:17 a.m. that the RCMP sent a tweet showing a photo of the car. This key warning came 12 hours after Mounties was first told about the vehicle and more than two hours after receiving the photo. By then, six more people had been killed this morning.
Two Mounties fatally shot the killer at a gas station north of Halifax at 11:26 a.m. At the time, police were preparing an Alert Ready emergency message to send to radio stations, televisions and cell phones in the province. But the message was never sent.
– With files from Michael Tutton.
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