RCMP Chief Superintendent Chris Leather says police were preparing an emergency message to go out when gunman was taken down in mass shooting.
Nova Scotia RCMP have said the gunman in last weekend’s mass shooting did not have a firearms license.
RCMP Chief Superintendent Chris Leather said they are still investigating the weapons used during the rampage and determined the shooter did not have a Firearms Acquisition License in Canada.
He said they are looking into how he obtained the weapons and would not comment on the weapon types used in the incident.
That has also led them to investigate whether he was assisted or supported leading up to the shooting.
“It would include any number of elements in terms of support,” said Leather.
“Whether it was weapons, transportation, the uniforms, the vehicle itself, associates here and elsewhere, these are all the elements of the investigation that are currently being explored,” Leather said.
Police say they are confident the shooter acted alone during the incident.
SIRT is currently investigating what weapons the shooter he had on him when he was apprehended by police as part of one of the two reports sent to them by the RCMP.
Leather also commented on the lack of their use of the provincial emergency broadcast system and said a message was being prepared to go out.
He said the RCMP were contacted at 10:26 AM Sunday by provincial emergency management officials offering to put out a message, but by the time one was prepared, the shooter had been caught.
The chief superintendent said the delay from the initial call was caused by communication between EMO and officers in charge, as well as conversations on what exactly the message would say. Whether or not an actual message was determined was not brought up during the news conference.
However, Leather said the use of Twitter allowed real-time information to flow to government officials, media and the public as the situation evolved, which included sharing the identity and vehicle of the suspected shooter.
He said the identity came to light sometime Sunday morning after RCMP found and interviewed a vital witness. He did not comment on whether that witness was a suspect, or if they had supplied the photo of the shooter’s car the RCMP had released.
Officers are working at 16 different crime scenes in Central and Northern Nova Scotia with the assistance of the Canadian Armed Forces.
22 people were killed in last weekend’s tragedy.
