The RCMP‘s response to the 2020 shooting rampage that left 22 Nova Scotians dead was far from perfect, but police did their best, the federal Justice Department said Friday.

During the final day of public proceedings at the federal-provincial inquiry into the mass shooting, Lori Ward, general counsel for Department of Justice Canada, said there’s always room for improvement for all policing agencies.

“No response to a critical incident of this magnitude could be perfect, but when this crisis hit, the RCMP showed up, did their best and acted with courage, determination and dedication,” Ward said.

On the night of April 18, 2020, a man disguised as a Mountie and driving a car that looked exactly like an RCMP cruiser, started killing neighbours and strangers in rural Portapique, N.S.

Ward said she is aware of the criticism leveled at the RCMP for allegedly dismissing witness accounts of the marked police car that the gunman was driving. She said that during the shootings the idea that the killer could have built such a car himself was beyond reasonable comprehension and was unlike anything police had seen before.

The final report about the investigation into the April 2020 massacre is expected early next year – and as Graeme Benjamin reports, family members of the victims hope it will lead to permanent, long-lasting change.

For more info, please go to https://globalnews.ca/news/9151549/rcmp-nova-scotia-mass-casualty-commission/

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