Achi news desk-
HALIFAX –
Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston is asking the province’s residents to pause for a moment of silence at noon Thursday and Friday to mark four years since the worst mass shooting in modern Canadian history.
On the night of April 18, 2020, a gunman disguised as a Mountie killed 13 neighbors and strangers in Portapique, NS, and managed to escape from the small Bay of Fundy community as RCMP officers gathered in the area.
The next day, the killer was driving a car that looked exactly like an RCMP cruiser when he fatally shot nine other people across northern and central Nova Scotia before he was shot dead by two Mounties at a gas station i’ north of Halifax.
The premier says flags at the legislature and all other state buildings will fly at half-mast from sunrise on April 18 to sunset on April 19.
Houston’s statement includes instructions for those who may need emotional support on those days, saying community resource navigators can be reached by dialing 211.
Just over a year ago, a public inquiry that looked into the mass shooting released a 3,000-page final report that offered 130 recommendations to prevent a similar tragedy and improve public safety.
“As each day, week and month passes since the events of April 18 and 19, we continue to reflect and remember those lives that were lost and honor the survivors and all those who have been affected,” Houston said.
“As a province, we must continue to support each other and work together to make changes to prevent something like this from happening again.”
This report was first published by The Canadian Press on April 16, 2024.
