On Saturday, April 18, 2020 communities everywhere were on lock down to stop the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, including the quiet, coastal town of Portapique, Nova Scotia, Canada.

But a 51-year-old denturist with a violent past named Gabriel Wortman was about to shatter that peace. On that night, he began a 13-hour shooting spree that would leave 22 innocent people dead at 16 different crime scenes across the province.

What started with an argument between Wortman and his long-time partner escalated quickly. Unimaginable devastation followed. When police arrived, several homes were burning and gunshots were ringing out.

Some police officers have described what they found when they arrived as “a war zone.”

But the terror and the true impact of his crimes were only just beginning.

We have much more on our website, including articles, maps, and photos: globalnews.ca/13hours

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Twitter: @SarahRitchieTV; @alexandrakress

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The deadliest shooting spree in Canada’s modern history left us with far more questions than answers. Join Sarah Ritchie, a reporter for Global News in Halifax, as she tries to unravel how something like this could happen there.

Sarah will take you through every hour, as it unfolded and together you’ll try and piece together what happened, what could or should’ve been done to prevent it and what we can learn to make sure a tragedy of this magnitude never happens again. 

13 Hours: inside the Nova Scotia Massacre coming soon

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