The public inquiry into the Nova Scotia mass shooting is detailing Gabriel Wortman’s history with guns.
A new document unveiled on Tuesday shows how he acquired his firearms and who knew about them.
Counsel Amanda Byrd spent the morning describing his weapons and the forensic evidence collected from the crime scenes.
She provided information about what friends, family, and community members knew about his weapons.
Many said they saw the weapons, describing them as high calibre pistols, assault rifles, and shotguns, but did not report them to the police.
Some said they knew he didn’t have a firearms licence.
Lisa Banfield, his common-law spouse, told investigators he bought his handguns in the United States and hid them in the back of his truck to bring them home.
“Banfield said the perpetrator had a hiding spot for a gun on one of the liquor dispensers at the bar in the warehouse and had a long “military gun” that he kept in a small cavity in a stone bench,” the foundational document states. “She said the perpetrator acquired a number of firearms from Tom Evans (a now-deceased friend of the perpetrator) that were more of the “hunting type,” while the ‘military-type’ firearms came from the United States.”
Shooter was on police’s radar years before the Portapqiue tragedy
The document also shows ten years prior to the Nova Scotia mass shooting the gunman was on the police’s radar.
Both his uncle and father reported in 2010 that he had made death threats against his parents.
Nearly a year later, an officer safety bulletin was issued to police warning Wortman had stated he wanted to “kill a cop.”
“Police have been advised [the perpetrator] is upset over a break and enter complaint he filed, is under a lot of stress, and has mental issues,” the bulletin reads. “Use extreme caution when dealing with [the perpetrator].”
(SOURCE: Mass Casualty Commission)
In 2013, an ex-neighbour reported illegal weapons were hidden at his Portapique cottage.
The gunman took the lives of 22 people in April 2020.
