By Canadian Press

Nova Scotia mass killing: Gunman said COVID-19 pandemic would make people desperate

Nov 16, 2020 | 11:27 AM

HALIFAX — Newly released court documents say the gunman who killed 22 people in Nova Scotia this year had sent an email in March saying he was glad he was well-armed because the COVID-19 pandemic would make people desperate “once the money runs out.”

The grim comment, paraphrased from an email obtained by the RCMP, is among several revealing insights contained in an RCMP application for a general warrant, much of which has been redacted.

According to the RCMP, Gabriel Wortman’s email on Mach 19 “talked about how the virus was huge and people have not dealt with something as big as it was.”

As well, the Mounties said Wortman wasn’t optimistic about what was about to unfold, saying that once people become desperate, they will need guns.

The document then quotes the gunman directly, saying: “Thank God we are well-armed.”

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On April 18-19, the 51-year-old denturist from Halifax killed 22 people in northern and central Nova Scotia before an RCMP officer killed him at a gas station in Enfield, N.S. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 16, 2020

The Canadian Press