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BREAKING: RCMP in Nova Scotia say they will hold a news conference today to give a 'detailed account of the incidents on April 18 and 19' that left 22 victims and a gunman dead. The briefing will be at 11 am AT or 10 am ET. Our latest story: http://cbc.ca/1.5543194
Toronto's mayor says the city's 'TORONTO' sign will be illuminated in red today to honour the Nova Scotia victims. The RCMP had been asking Canadians to wear red as a sign of respect for slain Const. Heidi Stevenson and mark a moment of silence at 2 pm AT/1 pm ET.
WATCH: The Nova Scotia RCMP briefing is about to get underway, revealing new details about the timeline of a strong of killings on Saturday and Sunday. http://cbc.ca/1.5542859
Supt. Darren Campbell, Officer in Charge of Support Services for Nova Scotia RCMP, has begun speaking. He notes some people lost lives while trying to save others: 'They are true heroes.' Campbell speaking of 3 clusters: Portapique on Saturday night, and 2 on Sunday morning. Map:
Campbell says Portapique in Colchester County has about 100 people who live there year-round. There are summer residences too. He calls it a 'quiet and peaceful community' with no sidewalks or streetlights.
Campbell: On April 18, there was an assault between the gunman and a person known to him. The female victim escaped and 'hid overnight in the woods.' Soon after this incident, there was a report of gunshots. Arriving police met one male who had been shot while driving a vehicle.
Campbell: This victim said the vehicle from which the shot came 'looked like a police vehicle.' He said it was driving toward the beach, and there was only one way in or out of the area. Police then located 'several people who were deceased, some of whom were lying in the road.'
There were 13 victims in all at Portapique, and several houses were on fire. At daybreak, the initial victim emerged from the woods and gave key details about the gunman, including his possession of a replica RCMP cruiser, a uniform, and weapons. Police then issued a bulletin.
Suspect's home and garage were completely engulfed in flames and 3 vehicles were burning on the property. Police learned he had pistols and long guns, as well as several vehicles that looked like police vehicles.
Campbell: After the victim emerged from the woods at 6:30 am AT, a critical incident response team was set up. Perimeter established and specialized units responded, including police dogs, a helicopter from the forestry ministry, as well as negotiators and crisis investigators.
Campbell: More than 12 hours after the first call, police began receiving a second set of 911 calls, from sites about 60 km away. The first incident killed 2 men and a woman on Hunter Road in Glenholme. At least 2 of these victims were known to the gunman.
Campbell: The gunman then went to another house in Glenholme and knocked on the door. The people knew him, saw he had a weapon, and did not open the door. The gunman left. He soon encountered a pedestrian (Lillian Hyslop) and shot her dead on the side of the road.
Campbell: The gunman then went on, pulling over 2 vehicles using his fake RCMP cruiser, and shooting each driver dead. A witness saw at least one of these incidents, in the Wentworth area.
Campbell: Const. Chad Morrison was waiting for Const. Heidi Stevenson at an intersection near Shubenacadie, NS. Morrison thought the approaching vehicle was Stevenson's car, but it was the gunman. He opened fire and wounded Morrison, but Morrison managed to drive away.
Then Stevenson came in contact with the gunman, and the vehicles hit head-on. 'Stevenson engaged with the gunman and was shot dead.' The gunman took her sidearm and magazines. A passerby stopped to help; the gunman killed him and took his silver SUV, setting the cruisers on fire.
Campbell: The gunman drove the SUV to another house, shot and killed the female occupant (whom he knew), and took her red Mazda after removing his uniform. Then he went to the Enfield Irving Big Stop. While he was at the pump, another officer who had stopped to refuel killed him.
Campbell: The first woman who was assaulted but survived was in a relationship with the gunman. He says her escape 'could very well have been the catalyst to start the chain of events.' But police are not discounting the possibility that the killing rampage was preplanned.
Campbell says police are asking for tips to fill in gaps in the timeline of the homicides. 'We want to be able to understand everything that we can possibly understand about the individual responsible.' They also want to make sure nobody else was involved.
Asked about the long gap overnight when there were no attacks, Campbell says police were containing the Portapique area, checking for and removing residents from the scene, checking for witnesses and any possible suspect, including the possibility of more than one assailant.
At that point, they thought the suspect could not have left the immediate vicinity, because his known vehicles were accounted for, but they eventually found out that a vehicle had been seen driving through a field. 'That could very well have been the suspect leaving the area.'
Campbell said the gunman came up as a possible suspect overnight, so they did background checks. 'We learned there were three plated Ford Taurus vehicles that were believed to be former police vehicles.' 1 was located at Halifax address, 2 others were on fire in Portapique.
By Sunday morning, police thought the suspect might have committed suicide in his burning house. 'At that time, we thought it was a localized incident, two kilometres by two kilometres... that was heavily locked down with a significant number of resources,' says Campbell.
Campbell acknowledges that the public trust has been affected by the Nova Scotia RCMP's failure to send out an alert about the possible danger. 'We understand why those questions are being asked and we are always looking to do better.'
Campbell says reports the gunman had a 'hit list' are not true to his knowledge. After the 'critical witness came forward, we identified other family members who could have been at risk,' and started contacting them and bringing them to safety. Police also had an interview list.
Police have been questioning the gunman's injured ex-partner as she continues to recover, but can't yet answer questions about motive. 'Trying to understand the mindset of an individual is a difficult thing. We will continue to try to unpack that and it could take a long time.'
Campbell says the gunman had 'a significant number of weapons.' One has been traced back to Canada but it's believed that the others were obtained in the United States. Evidence of how they were purchased may have burned to the ground along with the suspect's Portapique house.
Summary from @CBCNews of today's briefing by Nova Scotia RCMP on the timeline of a denturist's deadly rampage across the province last weekend: http://cbc.ca/1.5542859
