Key takeaways:
- ‘You do think regarding it. There’s no query about that,’ says a bystander.
- The officer had probably had a long night in the nearby neighborhood of Portapique.
When Gerry Dykens got a wave from the guy behind the wheel of a police cruiser in Debert, N.S., on April 19, 2020, he felt the officer had probably had a long night in the nearby neighborhood Portapique.
Dykens, of nearby Masstown, N.S., heard from a mate there had been a shooting in Portapique where numerous were murdered, and the gunman hadn’t been caught — but knew nothing about his mock cruiser.
“He smiled when he waved, and I could tell by how he was sitting in the vehicle that he was quite a big man,” Dykens stated in an interview with CBC.
Dykens is one of at least 44 individuals who crossed ways with the shooter, saw his replica police cruiser as he drove across the region, or missed meeting him by moments during the hours from when the slayings started in Portapique to when the gunman made his way to Plains Road in Debert the following day.
Read more: Tactical team leader during N.S. shootings bursts RCMP for the absence of help
As Nova Scotians learn more about what happened during the mass shooting in April 2020 through a public inquiry, facts from various eyewitnesses show how close dozens of people, including families with kids, came to the gunman.
Others reported witnessing a vehicle that could have been the gunman on April 19, but police didn’t confirm the timing. Others might not have reported at all, unaware of the significance of what they’d seen.
The man Dykens had died simply before 10 a.m. near the post office and elementary school in Debert on Plains Road was the gunman camouflaged as a Mountie.
Soon after, the shooter murdered Kristen Beaton and Heather O’Brien. Dykens knew both ladies.
Source – cbc.ca
