By Canadian Press

RCMP officers who shot at Nova Scotia firehall during mass shooting stand by actions

May 5, 2022 | 10:21 AM

HALIFAX — Two RCMP officers who mistakenly fired at a man standing outside a rural Nova Scotia firehall as they searched for a rampaging gunman say they still believe they reacted properly.

Const. Terry Brown and Const. Dave Melanson made the assertions as they testified today before the commission of inquiry into the mass shooting that claimed 22 lives in Nova Scotia over a 13-hour period on April 18-19, 2020.

Brown says he believed he had identified the suspect outside the firehall in Onslow, N.S., based on the information he had about the shooter — primarily that he was wearing an orange reflective vest and driving a replica RCMP cruiser.

Both he and Melanson fired shots from just under 100 metres away, striking the building, along with a monument and a sign in front of it.

The man in what was a yellow and orange safety vest turned out to be the emergency management coordinator for Colchester County, who was standing next to an actual RCMP cruiser and managed to escape into the firehall.

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Still, Melanson told the inquiry he doesn’t believe he would have done anything different that day based on what he knew at the time.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 5, 2015.

The Canadian Press