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Twenty-two people died in April 2020 in Canada's worst mass shooting in modern history
An inquiry into the deadliest mass shooting in Canadian history has criticised police for failing to act quickly to prevent casualties.
Twenty-two people were killed in the province of Nova Scotia in April 2020 after a gunman posing as a police officer went on an overnight rampage.
The independent inquiry was launched following fierce criticism of the police response to the shooting.
The inquiry released its final report on Thursday.
"Our recommendations call for transformative change, they call for collaboration, they call for leadership," said Michael MacDonald, chair of the Mass Casualty Commission charged with overseeing the inquiry.
The 3,000-page document outlines recommendations aimed at preventing a similar mass casualty event from occurring in the future.
It criticises the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) for failing to act on previous red flags related to the gunman, its lack of preparedness for a mass casualty event, its response to the shooting and the police's communication with the public during and after the shooting.
The report said police discounted eyewitnesses who said the gunman was posing as an RCMP officer, and they "seriously understated the threat" presented by the gunman to the public.
Police first responded to the shooting around 10 p.m. local time on 18 April, 2021 at a quiet cul-de-sac in the small seaside community of Portapique.
The gunman, Gabriel Wortman, first attacked his partner, Lisa Banfield, who managed to escape.
He then went on to kill 13 people and burn down several houses, including his own.
Wortman, who was driving a replica of an RCMP cruiser, managed to remain undetected overnight by police. The next day, he killed nine more people, including a pregnant woman and an RCMP officer.
The rampage ended when the gunman was fatally shot by two RCMP officers at a gas station located more than 90km south of where the shooting began.
The inquiry heard from more than 200 witnesses between February and September 2022.
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