Nand

I was living in Vancouver when Olson killed all those children. Horrible. Still haunts a lot of people.

plasticcanuck

Such horrors happen every so often and we never really know why. Obviously a mental breakdown of some kind causes the perpetrators to carry out such acts. They have so lost the ability to think rationally that they take the lives of anyone within the gun sights. Such acts have occurred many times in many countries leaving everyone puzzled as to why.

Jingsamichty

Lots of people have mental breakdowns. The majority of them don't have guns. It's not the breakdown that kills innocent people, it's the guns.

plasticcanuck

But the guns don’t load, aim and fire themselves! People are required for that.

Danny B

Canada has roughly 34 guns per 100 people. I'd say people take meds instead of reaching for a gun in most cases.

Siouxie

One of his first victims was reported to be his ex and her new partner; also his next door neighbour and a couple of other properties where he killed the occupants then set fire to the houses...... he then randomly stopped people (in his 'mountie fantasy') and executed them - - some of the vehicles he set fire to. The RCMP officer was dragged from her vehicle and shot at point blank range as well. When he crashed his 'decommissioned police vehicle' he carjacked 2 more (killing the occupants)... he was an alcoholic from what have read, with dreams of being an RCMP officer from way back... but this was planned... carefully planned... so no 'breakdown' excuses..

https://torontosun.com/news/local-ne...and-calculated
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/04/20/a...day/index.html

Nand

I also read he had two dental clinics and was a wealthy man. Heowned several large properties, rented them and was even well thought of in the community by several people. So evidently his alcohol problem wasn't very severe.

Rete

Wealth doesn't immune someone from mental illness. Nor does education and/or intelligence. One can be an alcoholic and still be highly functional. Doubtful that alcohol plays into this but rather his mental illness.

A crime such as this is just as shocking if it were to occur in the US as it is in Canada. Yes, the US has a high number of death by violence but this is horrendous.

MillieF

This Nova Scotia thing is unbelievable, it’s such a small area everyone will know someone involved with it. We have to do more to somehow discover what happens to make a person just unravel like that, there must have been some clues. You don’t just end up with a replica Police Car and a uniform overnight.... My husband often works down in Debert for long periods and says the people are very friendly and welcoming.

I dread the news and can’t bear looking at it anymore. It’s like the world has gone mad. A young man of 31, who I know was beaten to death in our local park last week, overnight. A poor woman walking her dog found him. I often walk my own dog right there. Poor boy, he had a little girl, but poor woman...

They are now saying that the death tool in Nova Scotia is 23!

Danny B

I can see how he got the car, bought at gov auction and then did the decals and lights himself. The genuine uniform though? maybe ebay? I really don't know. I'm sure the Police will eventually trace it back to where he got it from.

Those poor kids who witnessed their parents being executed by a man in police uniform. You don't ever fully recover from trauma like that.

Siouxie

He had been collecting RCMP bits and pieces for decades.. so probably managed to put something together without too much difficulty. People don't look closely, they see the 'uniform' and in the moment accept that who it is is truly an RCMP officer.

It's tragic.

caretaker

And of course it all starts coming out now; a good reason to keep the news off and only look again tomorrow, if possible. He committed a violent assault way back and was an all-around jerk, from the sound of it.
https://globalnews.ca/news/6848816/n...-assault-2001/

Nand

Clearly the guy was a really nasty piece of work in business, with his family, and as a land lord for many years. Read the wikipedia on the Nova scotia killings. He had everything in place for this: guns, uniform, car, ....so it wasn't just a beserk mental breakdown. He burnt his own house first, guess he knew he wouldn't be coming back to it.

BristolUK

Complaints about the lack of alerts. I heard pieces about it on CBC radio and there's this:
Nova Scotia residents ask: why didn’t authorities send emergency alert during shooting?

I have no idea what time it was other than it was before 8.00am, I just know I heard something on CBC during the hours he was active where the police had told people not just to stay in but to go to their basements if they had one.

Obviously that got out somehow. I'm not sure if it was CBC national or if it was a Maritimes news story but the suggestion now appears to be that a warning was tweeted only and the tweets I've seen reproduced or quoted say nothing about basements. Where did that come from?

Regardless of that, considering the active hours were mostly through the night, it probably doesn't matter what means were used to alert people, they'd all be asleep. I don't mean to be facetious with that.

But it went on until midday. That gives ample time for announcements. I don't really buy “We were in the process of preparing an alert when the gunman was shot and killed by the RCMP." They're not all out looking for him. Someone is assigned to deal with these things aren't they?

Former Lancastrian

Unfortunately there are protocols to be followed along with chains of commands.
Allegedly the 1st 911 call came in at 2226 (1026 pm) AT reporting sounds of gunshots. Officers would have responded and communicated what they had found, observed etc etc. Comms Centre would have had an individual in charge and I suspect an on call Duty Officer to contact should the situation become more involved. Nobody knows when this should or could have occurred but even that duty officer would be reporting to someone else. At some stage it would have been known that an active shooter situation was in process so more people become involved. Should a Province wide alert have been issued and when? All questions to be asked but how answered remains to be seen.
Damned if they do and damned if they don't plus a whole host of other things now being brought up. Were enough staff on duty etc etc.

I am so glad I am not the RCMP officer facing the press when they give the updates and question time?

https://www.cbc.ca/news/nova-scotia-...ails-1.5542025
Tragic event and lessons to be learnt but will they?