HALIFAX –
A senior RCMP official in Nova Scotia says he does not regret that no emergency signal was sent during the 13-hour assassination rage in 2020, saying it would lead to more dead police officers.
In February, Leah Scanlan told members of the Mass Victims Commission, which is investigating the killing of 22 people, that she was “glad” that there was no province-wide warning for an armed man driving a copy of a police cruiser.
A transcript of her interview was released to the public today, during the public hearings on the tragedy of April 18-19, 2020.
Scanlan says that in rural areas such as Portapic, NS, where the killing began, “people deal with … on their own,” adding that if the public knew the shooter was dressed as an RCMP officer, that information would put members of the RCMP at risk.
However, Truro, NS, police chief Dave McNeill told the investigation Monday that the alert – which would be broadcast on radio, television and smartphones – should have been issued by the RCMP.
Instead, the RCMP used social media to provide updates to New Scots for the active shooter, a decision that has been criticized by the families of some of the victims.
This report from The Canadian Press was first published on June 7, 2022.
This story was created with the financial support of the Meta and Canadian Press News Fellowship.
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