HALIFAX –
Research investigating the mass shooting in Nova Scotia has revealed new details about the Mounties’ struggle to find a plane to locate the killer on the night of April 18, 2020.
Documents released on Thursday show that RCMP commanders were besieged by bureaucratic hurdles and confusing advice before they finally found a helicopter. But the next day’s mission was marred by technical errors that left its crew one step behind the killer’s progress.
Early in their 13-hour human hunt for the shooter, crews requested the use of an RCMP helicopter. But it was based on maintenance, according to the investigation. Meanwhile, the RCMP fixed-wing aircraft for the Atlantic region was also unavailable. Staff shortages due to COVID-19 restrictions had prolonged annual maintenance in Moncton, NB
This bad news was confirmed to RCMP commanders at 11:16 p.m., just over an hour after a man disguised as Mountie and driving a replica of the RCMP cruise began killing neighbors and strangers in Portapique. NS, about 130 miles north of Halifax.
In all, the killer shot 13 people and set fire to several houses in the subdivision. He later escaped on a little-traveled side road. Early the next day, he resumed his commotion, killing nine others before being shot dead by two Mounties at a gas station.
The investigation has heard that the teams wanted a plane with an infrared sensor that could capture the heat signature of a human body because the suspect could have been hiding in one of the dark and wooded lots of the subdivision.
His first call was to the Joint Rescue Co-ordination Center (JRCC) in Halifax, which manages Army and Coast Guard search and rescue operations. But they ran into trouble when teams said the JRCC plane could not be deployed to look for an active shooter.
In a later call, however, teams learned that the military could provide a plane, but the request had to go through official channels.
“This request must go from the RCMP across the province to the federal government,” an unidentified official said that night. “I know it sounds complicated, but that’s the only way we can do it.”
The process began but did not end.
Meanwhile, the Mounties were also considering renting a civilian aircraft or requesting one from the Federal Department of Fisheries or Transport Canada. And there was talk of getting a RCMP plane from Montreal or Ontario. Again, these options did not work out.
At 3:15 a.m., the RCMP asked the Nova Scotia Department of Land and Forestry if one of the department’s four helicopters was available, although none of them were equipped with a prospective infrared radar (FLIR). ).
Although a helicopter was available, it was limited to flying during the day and was unable to take off before 6 p.m. With no other choice, the Mounties made the arrangements.
With pilot Ken Corkum at the helm, the Airbus H125 helicopter arrived over Portapique at 8:47 a.m., according to a test summary, known as the founding document. There was also an RCMP observer.
Although the weather was clear, the mission did not go well.
There was confusion about the use of radio channels. The Mounted wanted Corkum to use encrypted channels to make sure the killer could not control his messages. But Corkum initially did not know that his radio had this capability. And when he realized that these channels were available, it seemed like they weren’t working for him.
At 9:48 a.m., the RCMP received a 911 call from a couple in Glenholme, NS, where the killer had just approached his home with a rifle in his hand. After knocking on the door and ringing the doorbell, he left just two minutes later at 9:50 a.m.
Less than two minutes after that, Corkum was informed of the sighting, but the RCMP officer alerted him, Sergeant. Kevin Surette, had trouble relaying the coordinates when the pilot did not respond. At 9:55 a.m., the helicopter was still 2.8 miles south of the house and the killer had disappeared.
To the confusion was added Surette’s warning that the armed suspect was still in the second-floor house.
“This information was incorrect,” the document states. “It was the resident of the property, Adam Fisher, who was armed and present at the residence.”
When more shootings were reported in Debert, New Zealand, the helicopter arrived minutes later. But there were a number of radio issues, no sightings, and then it was time to stop refueling.
It was during this scale that RCMP Const. Chad Morrison was wounded by the gunman in Shubenacadie, NS
When the helicopter arrived at 11:13 a.m., the gunman had fatally shot Const. Heidi Stevenson and fled in a stolen car.
Corkum was told to fly south to Milford, NS, but had to land in a farmer’s camp because the RCMP policeman on board was ill with air.
The helicopter later arrived at a gas station in Enfield, NS, a minute after the killer was shot dead at 11:26 a.m.
This report from The Canadian Press was first published on June 9, 2022.