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Canada’s Deadliest Mass Shooting in Nova Scotia

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A gunman dressed as a Mountie turned rural Nova Scotia into the scene of Canada’s deadliest mass shooting.

Over roughly twelve hours spanning the night of April 18 and the morning of April 19, 2020, 51-year-old Gabriel Wortman drove across a stretch of rural Nova Scotia in a fake RCMP cruiser, killing at least 16 people before police shot him dead outside a gas station in Enfield. It is now the worst mass shooting in the country’s modern history, surpassing the 1989 Ecole Polytechnique massacre in Montreal. The rampage unfolded while the province was already under COVID-19 stay-at-home orders, forcing residents to shelter in their basements as the gunman moved from town to town.

• At least 16 people, plus the gunman, were killed across multiple crime scenes stretching from Portapique to Enfield — Canada’s deadliest mass shooting on record.
• Wortman evaded capture for roughly 12 hours by wearing a genuine-looking RCMP uniform and driving a modified Chevrolet Tracker built to resemble a Mountie cruiser, complete with decals and a light bar.
• Constable Heidi Stevenson, a 23-year RCMP veteran and mother of two, was killed responding to the call; Constable Chad Morrison was also injured before police killed Wortman at an Irving Big Stop in Enfield.

Chronology of the Violent Rampage

The violence started late Saturday night in Portapique, a seaside community about 100 kilometers north of Halifax. RCMP officers responding to 911 calls around 10:00 p.m. found several bodies inside and outside a residential property — what police designated the initial scene — along with multiple structures already burning. Investigators believe Wortman targeted his first victims there before the attack turned indiscriminate.

From Portapique, the rampage stretched through Wentworth, Debert, Shubenacadie and Enfield, with Wortman reportedly pulling over motorists at random and setting fires along the way, apparently to slow down pursuit and confuse witnesses. Residents already confined by pandemic restrictions were told to lock their doors and stay in their basements as police warned an armed man disguised as an officer was loose in the area.

A Disguise Built for Deception

What made the manhunt especially difficult was Wortman’s decision to pose as the police he was evading. He wore an authentic-looking RCMP uniform and drove an unmarked Chevrolet Tracker outfitted to pass for a real RCMP cruiser — emergency decals, light bar and all. Investigators say that disguise likely let him get close to victims and slip past bystanders who assumed they were looking at an actual officer responding to the chaos.

The manhunt ended Sunday morning at an Irving Big Stop gas station in Enfield, where RCMP officers confronted Wortman. Police confirmed he died at the scene, closing out a chase that had spanned an entire province overnight.

An RCMP Veteran Among the Dead

Constable Heidi Stevenson, a 23-year member of the RCMP and mother of two, was killed responding to the incident, one of the highest-profile losses in a police force that rarely faces this scale of violence. Constable Chad Morrison was also injured in the encounter.

“This is one of the most senseless acts of violence in our province’s history.”

That was Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil’s reaction as the death toll came into focus. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau offered condolences as well, praising Stevenson’s service and pledging federal support for the ongoing investigation, which is being led by the RCMP.

Grief Across the Province

News of the shooting spread through a province already bracing for a difficult stretch of pandemic restrictions, compounding the shock. Communities from Portapique to Enfield are now dealing with a death toll that reshapes how Canadians talk about gun violence, echoing the aftermath of the 1989 Montreal massacre that had stood as the country’s deadliest shooting for three decades. For continuing developments on the broader public-health backdrop against which this happened, see InfoSearched’s Breaking News coverage, and for how other countries are tracking similar violent crime stories, InfoSearched’s World News section has ongoing updates.

RCMP Chief Superintendent Chris Leather said investigators believe Wortman acted alone and that many victims did not know him personally, even as the attack appears to have started with people he did know in Portapique. Leather said police are examining whether the pandemic played any role in triggering the violence, though as of Monday morning no link had been established — leaving the motive, for now, unresolved.