A staff sergeant in charge of the RCMP dispatch center in Truro, NS, in the last four hours of the hunt, must testify at public questioning on Wednesday. Public hearings are held in Colchester County.
Officer Bruce Briers had earlier testified to the Mass Casualty Commission that he was bombarded with information when it came to work on April 19, 2020.
In the turbulent time that followed, he requested additional officers and tried to follow what was happening on the ground, while managing and monitoring the messages he received via email, text, phone or font radio.
Unfortunately, we don’t know what his intentions were.he shared.
By dawn, 13 people from the small community along Cobequid Bay had been killed, but police had not yet discovered them and had not yet realized that the shooter had escaped last night.
This Sunday morning, the shooter rode in his replica police car to Wentworth, Nova Scotia, where he killed nine other people.
Police were unaware he was moving until a second group of people called 911.
Arriving at the office, Bruce Briers request additional searches on vehicles linked to Berkshire Broman Corp., because he heard that one of the vehicles in the shooter’s property was registered there. It turns out that the replica police car is one of the three vehicles registered under this company.
But Bruce Briers needed help retrieving this information, as he did not have direct access to one of the province’s two databases, a problem he has raised on several occasions in recent years.
This will not change the Portapique, he specified. but it allows him to have more information more quickly.
Halifax police also warned him about the replica police cruiser after Lisa Banfield’s sister, the shooter’s wife, showed them a photo.
Meanwhile, investigators from Great Villagein Nova Scotia, interviewed Lisa Banfield in the back of the ambulance. He shared details about the car and he mentioned that his sister could be the target.
When Bruce Briers first asked about the car of the shooter at 7:29 am, Staff Sgt. Al Carrollwho worked at the fire station Great Villageofficers told him determined that the car was burned at the scene.
Then before 8 a.m., the tactical team confirmed that the damaged vehicle had no divider between the front and rear seats or light bar and they sent this information to the Staff Sergeant. Jeff Westwho oversaw the entire intervention from the fire station command post.
In a few minutes, Bruce Briers informed the Halifax police and the RCMP sent a lookout to the provincial police.
Bruce Briers imagine that if he had come home earlier on Sunday he might have understood what was going on better and faster.
I don’t blame anyonehe said. I wish I was a little early to get up.
He added that the RCMP has made changes since the shooting to allow a second risk manager to be called in during a major event.
Bruce Briers The amount of information the relatives of the shooter shared only after the massacre is also disturbing.
He said that in his three decades as a police officer he rarely brought home a marked vehicle and he thought people living nearby would notice, because it was not uncommon.
So if my neighbor started bringing one home and he wasn’t a cop, I would worry about it. And unfortunately, nothing was done.
His interview with members of the Commission lasted four hours. Let’s see if anything new comes out of his presence at today’s hearings.
The Mass Casualty Commission is traveling to Truro this week, deliberations will return to the Halifax Convention Center on June 1st.
With information from Elizabeth McMillan ng CBC
Source: Radio-Canada
