'Disturbing' evidence coming this week in Portapique inquiry

The inquiry into the deaths of 22 people in Nova Scotia in April, 2020 will start presenting "disturbing" evidence when public hearings resume today in Halifax.

The Mass Casualty Commission, as the inquiry is called, has spent more than a year interviewing witnesses and compiling other evidence about a killing rampage that started in the tiny coastal community of Portapique, N.S., on the evening of April 18, 2020.

It ended the next day when police shot and killed the gunman responsible for the 22 murders.

The first batch of evidence to be released by the commission will focus on the events in Portapique.

The commission has compiled what it is calling foundational documents. They cover a wide range of topics, including how RCMP responded to the unfolding emergency.

The first document will present a timeline of what happened in Portapique.

"We're using words like challenging and difficult," Barbara McLean, the commission's lead investigator, said last week in describing that first foundational document.

"But I'm going to be real here. The information that we are going to start sharing on Monday is disturbing."

McLean said the material includes transcripts of 911 calls and police interviews from people who were involved in the tragic events.

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