I'm still trying to get my head around this. I was reading a CTV story about how the N.S. shooter handcuffed and assaulted his girlfriend before he commenced the mass shooting spree, when I came upon this oddity. CTV reported:
On Thursday, audio recordings from first responders posted online showed how paramedics on the scene were aware by at least 11:20 p.m. on Saturday that there was an active shooter in the area, but were still unsure of many other details concerning the situation.
"There's a person down there with a gun," one paramedic said through two-way radio.
"They're still looking for him. The patient we have got shot by him. He was just down there observing the fire, checking out the fire. So there could be other patients around the fire that could be gone already, but we're not sure." The chaotic scene extended to a nearby fire hall that was being used to house evacuees of the shooting, where two RCMP officers opened fire on Sunday morning. The shooter was not believed to be in that area at the time.
CTV News has learned the officers thought another RCMP officer was, in fact, the shooter and only stopped firing once the other officer identified himself.
A now-deleted Facebook post from The Onslow Belmont Fire Brigade said the gunshots damaged the fire hall, but no one was injured. (1)
So ... an RCMP officer and his/her partner saw another RCMP officer, and actually pulled out their guns and started shooting at him/her???? The RCMP had a gunfight with themselves???? This is absolutely crazy and it makes me wonder about how we have degraded the qualifications to become an officer. I know mistakes happen, and scheisse hits the fan and all the other tired cliches, but ... the RCMP had a friggin gunfight with themselves! They were in a state of irrational panic. This does not inspire public confidence in the competence of the institution.
At this point, I would like to know the officers involved. It would be prudent to fill in some of the missing details, otherwise, speculation will run rampant. I would be curious to know if any of the RCMP officers were injured in the firefight? Could Heidi Stevenson, the tragically fallen officer, have been accidentally killed by a fellow officer and not the gunman? I can't see that, but given social media and the age of viral conspiracy stories, you need to clear the air.
I understand this is embarrassing to the RCMP and that they will want to quickly sweep it under the carpet, but that mentality is the problem. The RCMP works for us, they are public servants, not public masters. Be transparent, take your bumps, and correct your course. We need to learn why something so dangerous occurred. Are quotas limiting the selection of competent officers? Or has training been limited because of budget cuts or something? One could speculate infinitely. And one shouldn't need to if transparency is offered.
Can we at least be assured that those officers, that discharged their weapons at fellow officers on public streets, have had their badges pulled? We don't need trigger happy incompetents patrolling our neighbourhoods. Put them behind a desk somewhere, permanently. I'd feel safer with them having a pencil in their hand instead of a revolver.
by ABE
Read the full CTV article HERE.
(1) "N.S. shooter handcuffed, assaulted his girlfriend before mass killing" - Published Thursday, April 23, 2020 11:35AM EDT CTV News.
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