Nova Scotia soberly highlights the 5th anniversary of the Portapic killing

Five years after the shooting that shaken Nova Scotia and whose shock wave was felt far beyond the borders of the province, it is sober that the painful memory of portpic events is mentioned.

The authorities have not planned any official ceremony.

In a press release, the Prime Minister Tim Houston calls on his fellow citizens to Show compassion and support during this difficult period, respecting the privacy of families and communities affected and by giving them the space necessary to mourn, think and remember.

He indicates that the flags in the province will be at half mast on Friday and Saturday and invites the Neo-Scottish to observe a minute of silence at noon during these two days.

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This mass killing deeply mourned the most affected people and, five years later, we continue to feel the deep effectswritten in a press release Myra Freemanthe chairman of the committee who ensures the implementation of the 130 recommendations of the commission of public inquiry on the killing.

The Royal Canada Gendarmerie (RCMP) did not want to grant an interview on this subject.

For his part, Radio-Canada has chosen not to ask for the relatives of the victims in the preparation of this report.

Everyone saw their mourning in their own way

Everyone saw their mourning in their own wayexplain Janah Faira regional manager of mental Health and the treatment of dependencies with Health Nova Scotia. Some people find that it is useful to share their story, while others find that it is difficult, traumatic or overwhelming.

We must be very careful at the moment […] In order to respect the communities, their privacy and their individual way of mourning and recovering.

In April 2020, Nova Scotia was struck hard by the Cavid-19 pandemic. Infections are counted by the hundreds. People are hospitalized, some in intensive care. The health authorities impose confinement to avoid the spread of the virus.

Neo-Scottles are far from suspecting that in a small village in the bay of Cobequida 51 -year -old denturologist is about to embark on the deadliest run in modern history in the country.

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Several know, however, that man has violent behavior, that he has obtained illegally weapons in the United States and that he collects objects related to police, including old cars of the GRC.

The evening of Saturday April 18, 2020, it is a marital dispute at the chalet of Gabriel Wortman at Portapique which sets fire to the powder.

Mad with rage, he encloses his spouse Lisa Banfield In one of his old police cars which he equipped with beacons and stickers in the colors of the GRC. Then, he puts on a police uniform and takes with him several firearms, ammunition and gasoline.

An apocalypse scene

During this time, Lisa Banfield succeeds in escaping.

The 51-year-old man then attacks neighbors whom he murdered in cold blood, some in front of their children. He also sets fire to several buildings including his own chalet.

When the first calls 911 reach the GRC Around 10 p.m., the agents closest to Portapic are around 45 kilometers. The police who intervene that evening describe an apocalypse scene: fires, explosions, shots …

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Thirteen people are killed in the small isolated village: Greg Blair, Jamie Blair, Joy Bond, Peter Bond, Corrie Ellison, Dawn Gulenchyn, Frank Gulenchyn, Lisa McCully, Jolene Oliver, Joanne Thomas, Aaron Tuck, Emily Tuck et John number.

While the police are groping in the dark at Portapique, the killer flees by a private path that does not appear on the authorities’ maps. He spent the night of April 18 to 19, 2020 in an industrial park in Debertwhere, in full health containment, his presence does not awaken suspicion.

The next day at dawn, il resumes his deadly run. He takes the road to Wentworth where he kills three other people – Tom Bagley, Alanna Jenkins et Sean McLeod – And sets fire to a house.

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At the same time, in Portapique, Lisa Banfield Get out of the woods where she hid all night. His testimony allows the police to understand that the suspect they are looking for is dressed like them and that he drives a vehicle almost identical to their own.

The first emergency calls from Wentworth recover human hunting. The police engage in a real race against the clock to end the carnage.

A hunt over 200 kilometers

But the killer always has one or two strokes ahead.

Returning from Wentworth, he slaughtered a woman, a woman, Lillian Campbellwhich works on the side of the road. He then murdered two nurses whom he intercepts with his false police car: Kristen Beatonwho is pregnant, and Heather O’Brien.

The noose is still starting to tighten.

Residents of Glenholme Who know the killer and who see him approaching their house sound the alert. But the 51 -year -old man continues his way and manages to cross the city of Truro without being spotted.

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HAS Shubenacadiethe killer meets the policewoman Heidi Stephenson. Their vehicles come up against and there is an exchange of gunshots. The agent of the GRC is killed.

Il then fell a passer -by, Joey Webberand seizes his vehicle. He made a last victim, Gina Goulet, a woman he knows and whose car also steals.

It is by stopping to fill up with gasoline at a gas station in Enfieldnorth of Halifax, that he is intercepted and shot down by agents of the GRC.

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After 13 hours of hell, the Portapic killing is over. Nova Scotia takes the measure of the drama. Very quickly, votes are among the relatives of the victims to request a commission of public inquiry.

The federal and provincial governments resist, then end up agreeing on demand.

We will continue to work with the municipalities, the federal government and the RCMP to make our communities safer. We are unwavering in our commitment to make real changes.

For almost two years, the massive losses commission peeled some 40,000 documents, hears hundreds of testimonies and holds dozens of public hearings.

The investigation chaired by the retirement judge Michael MacDonald concludes that in April 2020, the GRC was not ready to respond to the worst mass killing in modern history in the country.

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We learn that from the first minutes of the shooting, the federal police cannot clearly communicate to his agents on the ground the information she receives from 911. They nevertheless contain a description of the killer and the false police vehicle he drives.

Throughout the man hunting which covers more than 200 kilometers, communications within the GRC remain deficient. In the last hours of the hunt, two police officers even go so far as to open fire by mistake on a fire station where they believe they saw the killer.

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Communications with the public are also lacking.

Throughout the killing duration, the GRC does not send any alert to prevent neo-Scottish from the danger. Rather, she uses the social network Twitter – Today X.

The public inquiry reveals that an alert could have saved lives.

Tangible changes, others less

The recommendations of the massive losses commission on emergency alerts have also led to rapid and tangible changes. Today, these alerts are frequently used both for police interventions and for boiling water opinions.

There was a lesson learned by the GRCunderlines Pierre-Yves Bourduas, a former sub-commissioner of the Federal Police, in an interview with Radio-Canada. This kind of communication must be done so that the public is notified as quickly as possible in order to protect the public.

Another thing that has changed after portpical is the sale of former equipment for the police, which is now prohibited by law in Nova Scotia, and the sale of old patrol vehicles of the GRCwhich remains under a moratorium.

On the other hand, other changes take time to materialize.

This is the case with recommendations to prevent domestic violence and support the victims. Nova Scotia adopted a law last September which recognizes the epidemic nature of violence between intimate partners.

Since then, seven women have still been killed by their spouse in the province.

With information from Kheira Morellon and Téléjournal Acadia