22 victims confirmed dead in Nova Scotia mass shooting  

Mounties now say there are at least 23 dead in the Nova Scotia mass shooting – including the suspect. Officials have also released more details about the gunman’s actions, while Canadians express their grief over the tragedy. Xiaoli Li reports.

NOVA SCOTIA (NEWS 1130) — RCMP investigators confirmed Tuesday they believe 22 victims died after a gunman went on a rampage in rural communities across Nova Scotia over the weekend.

The total is in addition to the gunman.

Initially, authorities had said at least 18 people were killed in the 12-hour attack.

Among the latest is a 17-year-old, while all the other victims were adults, men and women, including Const. Heidi Stevenson, a 23-year member of the force who was killed in the line of duty.

Investigators continue to search for evidence at 16 different crime scenes, at least five of which involved buildings that were set on fire.

Investigators are also looking into the possibility that others may have aided the gunman, who died during a confrontation with officers on Sunday.

“The investigative team is focused on learning more about this very tragic situation, including accurate victim information and whether others may have aided the suspect,” says a Facebook post by Nova Scotia RCMP.

As fears mounted that more victims would be found in burned-out homes, a young man said that his grandparents were missing and believed dead after their log cabin was set ablaze during the attack.

Justin Zahl said he finally heard from police after frantic calls for information and seeing images of his grandparent’s home in the rural town of Portapique burned to the ground, with their cars in the driveway.

It was not immediately clear, however, if the remains police said had been found Tuesday included those of his grandparents.

Zahl said he last heard from his grandmother early Saturday evening via iMessage on her iPad.

“They were angels,” he said of his grandparents.

Police said previously some of the victims were known to the killer, while others who were targeted did not know him.

The killing spree ended Sunday when RCMP officers took out the lone suspect, disguised as a police officer, at a gas station north of Halifax.

Officials identified the suspect as 51-year-old Gabriel Wortman, who wore a police uniform at one point and drove a car resembling a Royal Canadian Mounted Police cruiser.

Authorities have not provided a motive for the killings.

RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki said Wortman was not well known to police. She said police are still studying the crime scenes to determine what weapons were used.

A second RCMP officer was shot during the rampage, but has since been released from hospital.

RCMP were initially called to reports of a man with firearms in the small community of Portapique, N.S., on Saturday night. There, officers found numerous people dead or wounded, both inside and outside a property. But by the time police arrived, the shooter was gone.

“Residents of the immediate area were being evacuated by police while the search was ongoing,” says RCMP.

An hours-long manhunt and eventual police chase ensued across a swath of the Maritime province, with officers providing periodic updates about the suspect’s whereabouts.

Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil has said the province did not receive a request from the RCMP to put out an emergency alert about the shooter.

RCMP opted instead to update people via its Facebook and Twitter accounts.

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