NS RCMP GETTING MILITARY HELP AS INVESTIGATIONS CONTINUE INTO WEEKEND MASS SHOOTING
Photo credit: The Canadian Press
Nova Scotia Senator Stan Kutcher is calling last weekend’s horrible shooting spree something that is “terrible, senseless and evil.” In Portapique Beach, RCMP have brought in an excavator and are getting military help as they search for more clues to identify the shooting victims from the weekend murders. A retired man and woman who moved to Portapique from New Mexico 3 years ago are still missing. The death toll currently stands at 22 people, plus the man who carried out the rampage.
Automotive experts who know the business say police vehicle items like light bars and markers are often sold at legal auctions, so the gunman might have obtained them that way. Those in the know say this case shows that’s something that needs to be made illegal. As for his RCMP uniform, 9 of those were lost across the country last year, and more than 200 were stolen.
From the Law Courts, there’s word the shooter from the weekend’s spray of bullets had been in trouble with the law in the past. Halifax-area court records show him pleading guilty to assault charges laid in 2001, and when he was given a conditional discharge in January of 2002, he was ordered to undergo anger management treatment. That was the year the man behind this mass shooting was forbidden from owning a gun or crossbow for a period of 9 months.
Psychologists say the best way we can honour last weekend’s shooting victims is to go out and be as Nova Scotian-friendly and community-minded as we can, as soon as we can the all-clear sign from the current pandemic. Michael Unger holds the Canada Research Chair in Child and Family Resilience at Dalhousie University. He tell CBC until the Coronavirus threat passes, we’ll need to rely on the internet, with things the memorial service coming up on facebook this Friday evening. Organizers say it’ll take place at 7 o’clock Friday night on the Facebook page: Colchester Supporting Our Communities
The RCMP have set up an In Memoriam page for Cst. Heidi Stevenson. You can visit it for information on submitting messages of condolence and to read the statement from Commanding Officer Lee Bergerman.
Faith Baptist Church in Great Village are accepting mail on behalf of all the families affected by the tragedy, you can send cards by mail to:
(family names)
Faith Baptist Church
38 Station Road
Great Village, Nova Scotia
B0M 1L0
Canada Post in Truro is also collecting mail on behalf of the victims families. Please place the family name on the envelope c/o Canada Post
366 Industrial Avenue
Truro, NS
Canada
B2N 6P0
The province has also set up an online book of condolences for those who lost their lives this past weekend. You can leave public comments and condolences on a Facebook group or send private messages through an email address.
The Maritime Junior A Hockey League’s Board of Governors has established an emergency fund to show their support for the victims of the weekend fires and shootings. The Nova Scotia Victims Fund has been created to directly give money back to the families, victims, and communities impacted. Once the money is raised, it’ll be held in trust for families until the RCMP investigation is complete. Details can be found on the MHL website
Ottawa has moved to delay the lobster fishery in the Northumberland Strait by two weeks.
The season will now open in Zones 26-A and 26-B, which is in our part of the Strait, on May 15th. The last day of fishing will be June 30th. Fisheries and Oceans Canada is advising lobster harvesters that they’ll need to take extra precautions to guard against the spread of Coronavirus. The federal fisheries people say they’ll be updating fishing families online if there are any changes. So this decision means the local lobster fishery will not be cancelled this year.
NOVA SCOTIA ANNOUNCES TENTH DEATH FROM CORONAVIRUS AND 16 NEW CASES
A tenth person has died from coronavirus in Nova Scotia. That person was identified at yesterday’s provincial briefing as another resident of Northwood Manor in Halifax. Dr. Robert Strang says there are now 737 cases of COVID-19 diagnosed in Nova Scotia. That increase of 16 positive test results compares favourably to the 46 cases added in the previous daily report. But Strang points out more than 22,000 Nova Scotians have come back with negative test results.
The Premier says easing back on the current physical distancing measures is something that depends on how well Nova Scotians follow the State of Emergency rules over the next couple of weeks. With PEI making noises about loosening their COVID-19 restrictions in early-May, McNeil says he’ll consult with Public Health before making any decision on things like parks, schools and daycares becoming more accessible in this province. And even on PEI, public health officials are cautioning any easing back on the distancing rules depends on what happens with community spread over the next two weeks.
The Pictou Lobster Carnival is cancelled for this year because of the Coronavirus threat. Chair Shawn MacNamara says with word from Dr. Robert Strang that physical distancing might be enforced into the month of July, they’re calling it off for this year, and putting all of their efforts into next year.
Coronavirus cases turning up at 2 beef plants in Alberta and a poultry plant in East Vancouver have people worried about a downturn in production for both kinds of meat. The beef plants are in Brooks and High River, Alberta.
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