At least 44 people had close calls with gunman during Nova Scotia's mass shooting
CBC
When Gerry Dykens got a wave from the man behind the wheel of a police cruiser in Debert, N.S., on the morning of April 19, 2020, he thought the officer had likely had a long night in the nearby community of Portapique.
Dykens, of nearby Masstown, N.S., heard from a friend there had been a shooting in Portapique where many were killed and the gunman hadn't been caught — but knew nothing about his mock cruiser.
"He kind of smiled when he waved, and I could tell by the way he was sitting in the car that he was quite a big man," Dykens said in an interview with CBC.
Dykens is one of at least 44 people who crossed paths with the shooter, saw his replica police cruiser as he moved across the province, or missed meeting him by moments during the hours from when the killings began in Portapique, to when the gunman made his way to Plains Road in Debert the next morning.
As Nova Scotians learn more about what happened during the mass shooting in April 2020 through a public inquiry, details from various witnesses show how close dozens of people, including families with children, came to the gunman.
There are others who reported seeing a car that could have been the gunman on April 19, but the timing wasn't verified by police. Others might have not reported at all, unaware of the significance of what they'd seen.
The man Dykens had passed just before 10 a.m. near the post office and elementary school in Debert on Plains Road was the gunman, who was disguised as a Mountie.
Soon after, the shooter killed Kristen Beaton and Heather O'Brien. Dykens knew both women.
Believing the gunman was a real officer, he said he would have pulled over to the side the road if the lights on the replica cruiser had been activated.
"So that kind of haunts you a little bit," Dykens said.
While Dykens said he feels lucky, and his thoughts are always with the 22 victims who were killed during the 13-hour rampage and their families, he's highly aware he could have also died that morning.
"You do think about it. There's no question about that," he said.
Dykens called into the RCMP tip line with his account a few days after the shootings. An officer took his brief statement over the phone, but Dykens's account is not in the official timeline released by the commission.
By mid-morning on April 19, the RCMP had only released a few details about the gunman and his vehicle through Twitter, and many people in the area had little idea of the danger. Some were out on the roads.
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