Portapique investigation: complaints to the police against the shooter yielded nothing

Michael Scott of Patterson Lawwhose firm represents the families of many of the victims, also believes an RCMP officer who visited the shooter more than a dozen times in the years leading up to the shooting should testify to their relationship.

Documents released by the Mass Casualty Commission set out the actions taken by the police in response to complaints about Gabriel Wortman in 2010, 2011 and 2013.

According to Me Scottthere have been quite specific complaints where people have expressed concerns about the shooter’s illegal weapons and his intention to use them I think under any normal circumstance that would be more than enough for the police to go to a judge and get a search warrant.he said.

Three Complaints

In the first case, Cordell Poirier, a now retired Halifax Regional Police officer, learned that the shooter had called his uncle in Alberta and allegedly threatened to kill his parents in New Brunswick. The officer spoke to the father, who said his son had guns at the Portapique cabin and was an alcoholic.

He added that he had not seen the weapons for more than five years. Given this shortcoming, Cordell Poirier noted in his report that without recent knowledge, a public safety warrant could not be obtained.

The complaint was handed over to the officer Greg Wiley from the office of RCMPRoyal Canadian Mounted Police of Bible Hill. Constable Wiley remembers the situation as a family disagreement over ownership.

In May 2011, a second complaint, a Truro officer learned from an unknown person that Gabriel Wortman had guns and wanted kill a policeman.

Constable Poirier recognized Gabriel Wortman’s name and called the Bible Hill Detachment where he spoke with a supervisor to ensure he was aware of the new complaint. Greg Wiley does not recall this complaint. He said that the RCMP receives a million complaints.

He adds that he had a professional relationship with the shooter between 2008 and 2017.

I can tell you that as a lawyer, I don’t understand thissaid Michael Scott.

Be warned in this way and choose to do nothing!

Me Scottwho primarily practices criminal law, says he frequently encountered search warrants in drug cases where police received judicial authorization based on anonymous snippets of information.

When the commission’s investigators asked Greg Wiley If the 2011 complaint that the shooter wanted to kill a cop was alarming, he said he didn’t remember being given anything so formal.

When the commission’s investigator asked about his experience with warrant applications, Greg Wiley declared that he hadn’t really written mandates while working in Nova Scotia.

As for the third complaint against the shooter, it was filed in 2013 by Brenda Forbes, a neighbor of the shooter in Portapique. She says she reported her neighbor for domestic violence. But she says the RCMP failed to act.

Lack of evidence

The National Police Federation, which represents RCMP members below the rank of inspector, says there was no not enough evidence to allow RCMP officers to obtain a search warrant for firearms at the shooter’s residence.

Greg Wiley was not a member of the RCMPRoyal Canadian Mounted Police that for a few years Bible Hill when he first met the shooter in 2008, after investigating a case where tools were stolen from his garage.

He described the shooter as helpful and helpful and visited it around 16 times over the years between 2008 and 2011 before moving to another area.

Greg Wiley said he had no other community sources in Portapique, but had acquaintances in other areas where he stopped to chat.

Despite frequent visits and the lack of follow-up on complaints, the agent Greg Wiley assures that he had no special relationship with Gabriel Wortman.

However, Agent Poirier told the Commission that Greg Wiley told him that the shooter was a good friend to him.

This discrepancy is one of the reasons Michael Scott and other attorneys asked Officer Wiley to testify in person.

In his interview with the commission, the agent Greg Wiley admits to wondering if certain signs would have escaped him.

Was I sleeping at the wheel? I have to live with my consciencehe said.

The commission has not yet said when or if the agent Greg Wiley will be called to testify again.

With information from haley ryan of CBCCanadian Broadcasting Corporation