The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) struggled to quickly notify families of the death of a loved one following the April 2020 shooting in Nova Scotia: a single officer was handling most cases amid an “astronomical” flow of information, we learned today.
A document on the notification of next of kin, released Monday by the Public Inquiry Commission into the killings, indicates that requests for information from more than 100 family members poured in the afternoon of Sunday April 19, 2020 and until late evening after police shot dead the killer at a petrol station in Enfield in the morning.
Relatives and friends who had seen images of burned homes on social media were desperate to find out if anyone close to them was among the 22 victims.
Within hours of the killer’s death, a team of RCMP major crimes officers took command and Constable Wayne Bent was given the task of liaison with the families for the deaths of civilians, in particular to tell them if the police believed that one of their relatives had been killed. In some cases, the victims had been burned beyond recognition.
Corporal Angela McKay, head of the major crimes team, said she and her colleague Bent had a discussion on the afternoon of April 19, and there were plans to reach one person from each family before leaving for the evening.
But Harry and Cory Bond, sons of Peter and Joy Bond – a couple murdered in Portapique on the evening of April 18 – told the commission they had called the RCMP several times, without answer, during the evening of Sunday and until to Monday morning. They said they only got confirmation that two bodies were found at their parents’ home on Monday morning, April 20, when they drove themselves to Portapique to try to find out what happened.
A similar scenario unfolded for the son of John Zahl and Joanne Thomas, also murdered on the evening of April 18 in Portapique. Justin Zahl had seen images on Facebook showing his parents’ house being burnt down. The summary says he made call after call to 911 for information. Constable Bent finally contacted Mr Zahl midday on Monday to inform him that police believed his parents were dead on Saturday evening.
Corporal Gerry Rose-Berthiaume, the lead investigator for the major crimes team, told the commission that the amount of information circulating at that time was astronomical, as investigators had to process 17 separate crime scenes. He also noted that priority was given to crime scenes in locations more openlike the intersection in Shubenacadie where police officer Heidi Stevenson was killed.
Ms Stevenson was killed around 11 a.m. Sunday morning; the RCMP commander in Nova Scotia, Assistant Commissioner Lee Bergerman, was notified of his death 10 minutes later. At 1:20 p.m., Mr. Bergerman and two other officers attended Ms. Stevenson’s home, where they informed her husband. The Stevenson family later told the commission that RCMP support had been immediate and constant.
It was a longer process for the family of Debert-area resident Kristen Beaton, who was pregnant with her second child. The nurse was working on Sunday morning when she was shot by the side of the road.
A concerned Nick Beaton called his wife’s brother, Richard Rood, who attended the crime scene around 11 a.m. Mr Rood provided two officers with information about Kristen Beaton and her vehicle, but officers said they could tell him nothing.
Her husband called all area hospitals, the RCMP in Truro and his wife’s employer, to no avail. He even sent friends to approach the crime scene.
At 2.28pm on Sunday afternoon, the RCMP called Mr. Beaton to obtain identifying information about his wife, including the make of car she was driving and her license plate. A police officer at the scene used this information to identify him at 4:25 p.m. Two officers arrived at Nick Beaton’s home at 6 p.m.
Nick asked about the delay in informing them of his deathindicates the document. [Le policier] replied that the scale of the tragedy had delayed some steps.
The Canadian Press
Source: Radio-Canada
