Almost seven weeks after a gunman wearing an RCMP uniform and driving a replica cruiser went on a rampage through rural Nova Scotia and killed 22 people, Nova Scotia RCMP are reassuring the public their officers are who they say they are.
Almost seven weeks after a gunman wearing an RCMP uniform and driving a replica cruiser went on a rampage through rural Nova Scotia and killed 22 people, Nova Scotia RCMP are reassuring the public their officers are who they say they are.
After the mass killing of April 18-19, some Nova Scotians expressed fear about encountering the RCMP, afraid the same thing might happen to them.
This fear was top of mind for a Lake Echo, N.S., woman on the evening of April 24. It was around 11 p.m. AT when she looked out her front door and saw RCMP officers and members of the Halifax Regional Police emergency response team with their guns pointed at her.
“I was very hesitant about going to the front door after what had happened [in Portapique], so once I saw a man in a police uniform, I lost my mind,” said the homeowner, whom CBC News is not naming because of safety concerns.
The woman was a victim of a swatting incident, which involves falsely reporting a serious incident in the hopes it draws a response that includes heavily armed tactical squads like a SWAT team.
The police were responding to a fake call reporting a shooting at the residence.
The woman’s neighbour was also afraid when the RCMP came to her door.
“It was terrifying. Just the buzz at my door and the person identifying themselves as an RCMP officer terrified me,” she said.
The woman subsequently confirmed the officer’s identity after calling 911.
Officers initially reported ‘some hesitancy from people’
Nova Scotia RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Jennifer Clarke said the force does not track the number of calls received from the public asking to confirm an officer’s identity, but she said officers on the road initially reported “there was some hesitancy from people” after the mass shooting.
“We do understand that people have certain feelings that have come on from those incidents in Portapique in April, but we are very good at adapting ourselves to a number of different situations,” Clarke said.
“In this case, where someone might be a little bit distrustful of us as an RCMP officer, we’re capable of handling that and are more sensitive to that, for sure.”
Clarke said now that it’s been almost seven weeks since the killings, officers are reporting less anxiety and uncer