Frantic radio logs reveal confusion, fear as Mounties responded to N.S. shootings

When the first RCMP officer arrived in Portapique, N.S, he encountered a man bleeding from a head wound who said he had been shot by his neighbour, "Gabe," who was driving what looked like a police car. At that moment, the shooter was less than 200 metres away.

Const. Stuart Beselt and the two other officers who were first to arrive on scene late on April 18, 2020, knew their suspect had shot at numerous people and feared he could be lurking in the darkness of heavily wooded lots. They decided to approach on foot.

The details of the chaotic scene that the three Mounties encountered at the beginning of a 13-hour rampage during which Gabriel Wortman killed 22 people, including a pregnant woman, are included in a document put together by the Mass Casualty Commission examining the tragedy. 

At one point, the officers thought they were on the verge of catching their suspect and prepared to shoot, only to realize hours later that the flashlight they saw disappearing into darkness was a frightened man horrified by finding his brother's body. He, too, thought he was being pursued by the gunman. 

Audio of radio transmissions played during a public hearing Tuesday reflect out-of-breath officers frantically trying to communicate they were hearing gunfire or explosions, impaired by the darkness that was only broken by flames from multiple fires. 

All three officers — the only ones to enter the subdivision for 90 minutes — had already changed into their hard body armour and had their carbines ready. They decided to leave their police cruisers about 170 metres from the entrance where Portapique Beach Road connects to Highway 2, a quiet two-lane rural road along the Minas Basin. 

Const. Aaron Patton, who was sprinting down Portapique Beach Road to meet Beselt and Const. Adam Merchant, the first two officers on scene, radioed at 10:40 p.m.: 

"Lots of gunshots in here. Three gunshots… two more gunshots," said Patton 

Beselt confirmed they were "hearing numerous gunshots" and warned: 

"Patton, be very careful to avoid bringing your car down here to avoid ambush."

Beselt, with 24 years experience, was the acting team leader that evening, according to the Mass Casualty Commission, which has conducted its own interviews with the officers and reviewed statements they made to RCMP days after the shootings. 

Beselt told the commission that he had no doubts it was an active shooter situation. He said a crucial lesson learned after a gunman killed three RCMP officers and injured two others in Moncton in 2014 was that cruisers could be "billboards" that could draw fire.

"Police officers die in their cars," he said, adding that the only way to get any advantage was to move "stealthily" on foot. 

"I think it kept me alive, to be honest with you," Beselt said.