At least 18 people are killed in Canada’s deadliest shooting

A gunman disguised as a police officer went on a 12-hour rampage in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, shooting people in their homes, setting fires and killing at least 18 people, including a policewoman, in the deadliest such attack in the country’s history.

Officials said the suspected shooter, identified as 51-yearold Gabriel Wortman who apparently worked as a denture-maker, was also dead. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) did not provide a motive for the killings.

Lee Bergerman, an assistant RCMP commissioner, said: “Today is a devastating day for Nova Scotia and will remain etched in the minds of many for years to come.”

Overnight Saturday, police began advising residents of the rural town of Portapique, about 60 miles north of Halifax, to lock their doors and stay in their basements. Several

bodies were later found inside and outside one home in the town.

Bodies were also found at other locations.

The assault began late on Saturday. Authorities believe the shooter may have targeted his first victims, but then began attacking randomly. Several homes in the area were set on fire as well. RCMP Chief Superintendent Chris Leather said police expect to find more victims once they are able to comb through all the crime scenes, some of which were left in smouldering ruins.

Chief Supt Leather said police teams were spread out at 16 crime scenes in central and northern Nova Scotia. He said some of the victims knew Wortman and some didn’t.

The dead officer was identified as Constable Heidi Stevenson, a mother of two and a 23-year veteran of the force. Another officer was also injured.

Police said Wortman was thought to live part time in

Portapique. Authorities said he wore a police uniform at one point and made his car look like a RCMP cruiser.

Police first announced they had arrested him at a petrol station in Enfield, outside Halifax, but later said he had died. It was not clear how and they did not explain further.

“This is one of the most senseless acts of violence in our province’s history,” said Nova Scotia premier Stephen Mcneil.

Mass shootings are relatively rare in Canada. The country overhauled its gun-control laws after gunman Marc Lepine killed 14 women and himself at Montreal’s Ecole Polytechnique college in 1989.

Before this weekend’s rampage, that had been the country’s worst attack. It is now illegal to possess an unregistered handgun or any kind of rapidfire weapon in Canada. Prime minister Justin Trudeau said: “Together we will mourn with the families of the victims.”