The public inquiry documents shed light on the internal discussions that RCMP staff had about what information to share with the public about the evolving situation with active shooters in Nova Scotia in 2020.
They also show that on April 19, amid the realization that the shooter was free and on the move, an RCMP communications officer was concerned about his own safety and that of a CBC crew set up near the makeshift command post at Great Village, NS
Families of people killed on the second day of the violence are adamant that if they knew more about the danger – and that the shooter was driving something that looked like an RCMP cruiser – their loved ones would be home and away from danger.
In a 13-hour rampage that ended with 22 dead, other injured and several homes destroyed, the Nova Scotia RCMP posted 11 tweets about the incident and shared similar information on its Facebook page.
The Commission on Mass Victims has not yet published a summary of the RCMP’s public communications, but records released so far show that there has been an behind-the-scenes discussion about what details were accurate enough to share with the public and the communications team is tasked with publishes messages on social media networks.
Twenty-two people died on April 18 and 19, 2020. Top row left: Gina Gulet, Dawn Gulenchin, Jolin Oliver, Frank Gulenchin, Sean McLeod, Alana Jenkins. Second row: John Hall, Lisa McCully, Joey Weber, Heidi Stevenson, Heather O’Brien and Jamie Blair. Third row from the top: Kristen Beaton, Lillian Campbell, Joan Thomas, Peter Bond, Tom Bagley and Greg Blair. Bottom line: Emily Tuck, Joy Bond, Corey Ellison and Aaron Tuck. (CBC)
Records released by the commission show that from the first hour of the response, several police officers asked about the steps taken to inform the public.
Const. Stuart Besselt, the first officer at the scene in Portapic, NS, sent his colleagues on the radio, asking about the possibility of an emergency broadcast at 11:16 p.m.
Employees of the Operational Communication Center began calling residents to warn them to stay inside. To do this, they had to search for addresses and maps to try to find phone numbers in their internal recording systems.
cap. Lisa Croto told commission investigators that Sergeant. Andy O’Brien called her around 11:30 pm – about 90 minutes after the first call to 911 – and asked her to post information on the current situation in Portapic, NS. After discussing what should be reported, Croto said she had checked in advance. translated wording.
She posted that The RCMP responded to a complaint about firearms at 11:32 p.m., and advised people to avoid three streets in the community and stay at home with their doors locked. It does not mention people killed or injured.
cap. Lisa Croto sent this tweet on April 18, 2020. The first public mention of the RCMP for the situation in Portapic, NS (Twitter)
This was the last time the RCMP of Nova Scotia tweeted until 8:02 the next morning, when they wrote that the officers remained in Portapik, responding to a situation with an active shooter.
Information about Gabriel Wortman’s marked cruiser was shared with other police agencies at the time, but was not made public for another two hours.
The media is looking for information
That Sunday morning, news organizations shared information that the RCMP posted on Twitter and Facebook.
CBC producer Angela McIver emailed the two media liaison officers for information at 2:57 a.m. after seeing social media posts and a tweet with firearms before midnight. Shortly afterwards, she called Croto, who said when asked that she was still home and fell asleep after talking to O’Brien.
Croto told her there was no information on fires or how many employees were on site, but said residents should go to their basements and lock their doors or leave the area.
Croto said when asked that she planned to leave for Colchester County around 5 am at the request of a staff sergeant. Steve Halliday, who asked her to be there to deal with the demands of the media at the scene.
It wasn’t long before she received a steady stream of calls from news organizations, including some outside Canada.
“I didn’t want to know too much”
After arriving at the makeshift command post at the Great Village Fire Department, Croto spoke with the incident’s commander, a staff sergeant. Jeff West to receive the information he managed to share with the media.
She told the investigation that she knew they had a suspect, but did not ask for further details in case she missed something she was not authorized to share.
“I looked at it because I didn’t want to know too much because I wanted to be able to help the media,” Croto said in an interview with the committee.
Meanwhile, a CBC reporter and videographer arrived, and Croto helped them settle into a location with a good view of the command post. All three were there when police vehicles rushed in, in response to a 911 call that Lillian Campbell had been killed on the road to Wentworth.
Police, firefighters and paramedics were at a fire station in Great Village, about 10 minutes from Portapique, NS, where they had responded to a situation with an active shooter the night before. The RCMP used the hall as a mobile command post. (Shine Bow / CBC)
“I didn’t feel safe”
After learning of Wentworth’s call and that the suspect was in a police car, Croto said he was worried and called a colleague who told her he was a “sitting duck.”
“I didn’t feel safe for myself or the CBC reporters where we were, because if he came around the corner, we were there,” she told the committee.
“It was difficult because until we confirmed all the information that it was happening, I couldn’t warn the CBC because I didn’t want to say anything unless we confirmed that it was happening.”
After the RCMP tweeted about the cruiser’s replica, she told the CBC crew to go somewhere safer. Croto decided to return to headquarters to help there, partly because she was worried that her own cruiser had turned her into a target for officers looking for the shooter.
Photo of the 2017 Ford Taurus decommissioned by the shooter, which he made in a copy of a cruiser and used during the mass shootings on April 18-19, 2020 (Mass Victims Commission)
“I was worried they would think I was the bad guy. So, I just had to get out of there, “she said, describing a scary drive back to Halifax at about the same time as the shooter was thought to be on the same route.
The CBC asked the RCMP this week to comment on why it did not provide more information to the crew this morning, such as that many people were killed to convey the seriousness of the situation. In a statement sent by email, Mounties said it would be inappropriate to comment on the investigation documents while the proceedings are ongoing.
Behind the scenes, there was a discussion Sunday morning about what information should be made public. Croto’s colleagues in the communications team kept in touch with the commanding officers.
Sgt. Adi McCallum was in touch with Leah Scanlan, RCMP’s civilian communications director, who oversaw social media posts. They first spoke around 7:45 a.m., after which she tweeted that the shooter was still active, according to the inquiry.
Const. Heidi Stevenson also contacted the Center for Operational Communications at 8:44 a.m., asking if a press release had been considered.
The RCMP first publicly identified Wortman at 8:54 a.m. by posting a description and photo on Twitter.
Halliday approved a tweet mentioning the cruiser at 9:49 a.m., the inquiry found. The announcement was not published for nearly half an hour, although the commission’s report on the commanders’ decisions did not explain why.
He wanted to rule out that the car had burned down
Halliday, who is retiring afterwards, said when asked that he had asked McCallum to work with Scanlan before 8 a.m. to send information about the cruiser’s reply.
Halliday testified on Tuesday that before that, and until officers ruled out the possibility that the cruiser’s replica had been burned at Portapic, there was no point in sharing the details.
“Getting him out earlier than this can make it even harder for our members to cope at this time… I don’t think I would have seen this come out before it was literally confirmed that he was not one of those vehicles. which burned on the spot, “he said.
Only last week, an expert hired by the commission warned against this approach.
Michael Hallows testified that he found the “paralysis of accuracy” very disturbing.
“Whereupon you wait and wait for the perfect awareness of the situation and you fail to tell the public what you need to know at the moment. And I’m sorry, if I’m wrong, I’ll tell you I made a mistake and I’ll fix it. But in anticipation of this perfection of information, this is not happening, “he said.
Things changed quickly in the last hour
Kroto remained a point of contact for the media during the last hour of the riot, and her information was cited in the only media report – sent to about 300 journalists – advising that the situation was “active and evolving” and people should remain locked inside.
It says the RCMP works “to provide the most up-to-date information while dealing with public safety and employee safety”.
During the last hour, the attacker drove three different vehicles, shot and wounded Const. Chad Morrison killed Const. Heidi Stevenson, Joey Weber and Gina Gulet.
Steve Halliday, a retired staff sergeant, spoke to the Mass Victims Commission, which led the public inquiry on May 17, 2022. Halliday was part of the command team that responded in the early hours of the mass shooting that began in Portapice. (CBC)
Halliday’s notes said he was a staff sergeant. Dan McGillivray – until then the commander of the critical incident – “updates real-time communications so that they …
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