An elementary school teacher, two health-care workers and an RCMP officer have been identified as among at least 16 victims who died in this weekend’s shooting spree in rural Nova Scotia, one of the worst mass killings in Canadian history.
The victims were killed during a 12-hour rampage that began late Saturday in the small community of Portapique and ended when the gunman was killed after being intercepted by officers about 90 kilometres away in Enfield, north of Halifax.
Not all the details of the victims have been released, but below are profiles of some:
Heather O’Brien
Heather O’Brien was a licensed practical nurse, a wife, mother and grandmother. She worked for the Victorian Order of Nurses for nearly 17 years. In a news release Monday, the VON said O’Brien shared a deep caring for others.
Kristen Beaton
Kristen Beaton was a continuing-care assistant and a young wife and mother. She worked for VON for nearly six years, and was a compassionate and caring member of the VON team, said the news release.
Officials with the VON said they mourn the women’s deaths and for their families.
The release did not list their home communities.
Lisa McCully
Lisa McCully was an elementary school teacher and one of the victims during the shooting spree in Nova Scotia (Lisa McCully / Facebook)
Lisa McCully was a teacher at Debert Elementary School in Debert, the Nova Scotia Teachers Union said late Sunday.
“She was somebody who taught from the heart, she taught her kids not just the curriculum but teaching about virtues and personal qualities,” said Nova Scotia Teachers Union President Paul Wozney.
McCully was a longtime teacher at the school and a mother of two who lived in Portapique.
“I know that a parent of one of her students posted on Facebook the hole that was going to be left in his life now because Ms. McCully wasn’t going to be a part of it anymore,” said Wozney.
Const. Heidi Stevenson
Const. Heidi Stevenson was one of the victims in the Nova Scotia mass shooting (Nova Scotia RCMP / Twitter)
Const. Heidi Stevenson was identified Sunday by the RCMP as the officer killed while responding to the call about an active shooter. She was a 23-year member of the RCMP and mother of two children, one in Grade 6 and the other in Grade 8.
“I met with Heidi’s family, and there are no words to describe their pain,” Lee Bergerman, the commanding officer for the RCMP in Nova Scotia and assistant commissioner, said during a news conference on Sunday.
“Two children have lost their mother and a husband his wife. Parents lost their daughter, and countless others lost an incredible friend and colleague.”
Stevenson is being remembered as a good neighbour, colleague and friend by Staff Sgt. Scott MacDonald with the Halifax Regional Police.
Authorities are pointing to 51-year-old Gabriel Wortman, a denturist from New Brunswick, as the alleged shooter.
Read the full article at CBC News
This report was initially published on CBC News on April 20, 2020.
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