RCMP struggled to promptly inform families in aftermath of Nova Scotia mass shooting

The RCMP struggled to inform families promptly about the loss of their loved ones in the aftermath of the 2020 Nova Scotia mass shooting, with a single officer handling most cases.

The RCMP struggled to inform families promptly about the loss of their loved ones in the aftermath of the 2020 Nova Scotia mass shooting, with a single officer handling most cases amid an “astronomical” flow of information.

A document about the notification of next of kin released Monday by a public inquiry says that pleas for information from more than 100 family members poured in on the afternoon of April 19, 2020 and through the night, after police killed the murderer at an Enfield, N.S., gas station.

Relatives and friends who had seen images of burned homes on social media desperately sought official confirmation about the 22 people killed by the gunman driving a replica police car.

Harry and Cory Bond, the sons of Peter and Joy Bond — a couple murdered in Portapique, N.S. the night of April 18 — started hearing from acquaintances the next morning about shootings near Cobequid Court, the road where their parents lived.

The summary from the inquiry into the mass shooting says it was about 18 hours after the killings started before an RCMP officer found the Bonds’ bodies inside their home at about 4:46 p.m. on April 19.

In the hours after the killer’s death, a team of RCMP major crime officers took over command, and Const. Wayne (Skipper) Bent “was assigned the task of family liaison” for civilian deaths, including telling next of kin if police “believed” a family member had been killed. In some cases, victims had been burned beyond recognition.

Cpl. Angela McKay, a leader of the major crime team, said she and Bent had a discussion on the afternoon of April 19 where “the goal was to reach one person from each family … before we left for the night.”

However, the Bond brothers told the inquiry they repeatedly called the RCMP without response. They said they didn’t get confirmation that two bodies had been located in their parents’ home until the morning of April 20, as they drove to Portapique to attempt to find out what had happened.