Thread by @victorialwalton

There's an RCMP press conference starting at 11am this morning that is expected to give a full timeline of the incidents last weekend in #NovaScotia.

We'll hear from Supt. Darren Campbell, Officer in Charge of Support Services for Nova Scotia RCMP.

Campbell says three people were injured in the events on the weekend, along with the 22 who lost their lives.

He's expressing condolences to their families.

"This is a quiet and peaceful community," says Campbell.

He says there are no sidewalks or street lights in Portapique.

Campbell says the responding officers to the event had no idea it would be this tragic.

"They did not have the benefit of the knowledge I'm about to share with you. The initial complaint was a shooting."

Campbell says the timeline will be divided into three clusters of events.

The first in Portapique Saturday night, the second is in Wentworth/Glenholme/Debert on Sunday morning, and the third is in the Shubenacadie/MilfordEnfield area.

Police say that they first arrived on scene at 10:26 Saturday night and located a man with a gunshot wound, who was shot by a passing vehicle as he was driving.

He said it looked like a police vehicle, and said it was driving toward the beach.

Police say this man survived, but they soon located several people who were deceased, some of whom were laying in the roadway.

Police say there were 7 locations with victims and some were already on fire.

Over a "lengthy period of time" Campbell says police cleared homes of residents and providing support to victims.

Police say the suspects home and garage was on fire by the time they determined who the suspect was.

Police are calling the suspect's girlfriend, who spent the night hiding in the woods a "key witness" who confirmed that he was in possession of pistols and long-barrelled weapons as well as multiple police vehicles.

Unclear of the exact time but it sounds like we're talking about early morning Sunday now.

Police say they issued a BOLO (be on the lookout) bulletin to all police forces in the province.

Police say more than 12 hours after the first calls, they received a "second series of calls" from 60+ kilometres away.

In this area the suspect killed two men and one woman and set the home on fire.

The gunman then drove to Glenholme and knocked on a door of people who were known to him. They woke up, called police and did not let the suspect in. He left.

Note that these details are about to get very grizzly.

Campbell describes a 40-kilometre span where the gunman drove down rural roads, shooting at least three people who were out walking.

Police say at 9:35 there was a 911 call for the female walker in Wentworth, and the gunman proceeded to the Debert area by 10:08.

(Note that my gaps in Tweets are where RCMP translate to French)

RCMP say Constables Stevenson and Morrison were working out of the Enfield department that morning.

Morrison was waiting for Stevenson on Highway 2. When a vehicle approached, he thought it was her.

It was actually the gunman. He opened fire.

After Morrison told Stevenson he was injured, she continued driving along the highway and collided head-on with the gunman's vehicle. She engaged with him and was killed.

The gunman also shot and killed passerby who had stopped and stole their vehicle.

At this point the suspect had taken Stevenson's firearm.

He went to another home in the area and killed another victim who was known to him, before heading to the Enfield Big Stop where he was finally apprehended.

Police say they are looking for photos and videos. "No piece of information is too small," says Campbell.

The tip line they've set up is 902-720-5959.

RCMP says this is very traumatic for everyone. "And I'm not just talking about the police, I'm talking about the ambulances, firefighters...and all Nova Scotians."

When asked about the mock police vehicle and uniform, RCMP say it is made much harder "When you're trying to look for someone that looks like you."

Police say they're also aware the suspect also "came very close to some of our officers and did not engage them."

Police say they were aware the suspect had three registered vehicles but didn't know until later that there was a fourth vehicle that was registered but had no plate, and that was the one he was driving that morning.

Police say they have "pinpointed where he obtained the light bar for the vehicle" as well as a decal manufacturer who provided the decal sheeting but they don't know where he got them printed.

Campbell describes the suspect's Portapique residence as "completely destroyed by fire" which means some details may never be known.

Police say at this point they have NOT "uncovered a list" of names that were being targetted by the suspect.

Despite the fact there was no "hit list" police say they have a list of people they need to speak to.

"There seems to be a trail of people who had problems with Mr. Wortman" say RCMP.

Police say the next question will be the last one.

When asked about whether a police officer knew of the mock police cars owned by the suspect, had advised him to keep them off the road, Campbell says he didn't know.

"If this individual exists, I would ask them to come forward," he says.

This concludes today's presser.

I will write this up as a story ASAP for @TwitCoast but here is a written copy of RCMP remarks from today.

rcmp-grc.gc.ca/en/news/2020/s…