A denture-maker went on a rampage in a small town in Nova Scotia—killing at least 13 people, including a police officer, and sparking a 12-hour manhunt that ended with his death in a standoff at a gas station.The Royal Canadian Mountain Police identified the suspect as 51-year-old Gabriel Wortman, who owns denture clinics in Dartmouth and Halifax.The terrifying incident began late Saturday night in rural Portapique, where Wortman has property, when officers responded to 911 calls about gunfire.“When police arrived at the scene, member located several casualties inside and outside the home,” Chief Supt. Chris Leather said at a news conference on Sunday evening. “They did not however locate the suspect.”Police swarmed the area and began hunting for Wortman, who apparently set several buildings on fire before leaving the rural town of 1,600 and heading toward the port city of Halifax.“This was a very quickly evolving situation and a chaotic scene,” Leather said.Wortman made his way through several towns over the course of Sunday morning, with police tweeting out warnings to residents by the hour.At one point during his escape bid, police said it was possible Wortman was in a vehicle made to look like a police car, and possibly wearing a police uniform. An hour later they tweeted he was believed to be in a small silver SUV, suggesting he had switched vehicles.Catherine Harrop was working in a cider bar in Elmsdale when police swept through looking for Wortman.“Two of the armored SWAT vehicles pulled up out front, and a bunch of armed officers in camo got out,” Harrop told The Chronicle Herald. “Two of them came into the Sobeys [food market] and some of the others walked through the parking lot. The ones that came inside told everyone to go into lockdown, lock all the doors, turn off all the lights and stay away from the windows until they gave us the go-ahead to open up again.”Police apparently cornered the suspect at the Irving gas station and Big Stop restaurant in Enfield. A truck driver there told CTV News he heard a gas station employee shouting.“She goes, ‘Oh my God, lock the doors, he’s here!’ And I peek out of the window and I saw some RCMP vehicles and there was four or five uniforms with guns,” the driver said.Another witness, Glen Hines, said, “All I could hear was gunshots and my wife, I thought I was going to call 911, because she was going into panic, it scared her so bad.”Paula Hanrahan told The Chronicle Herald she was driving home when she saw the commotion.“I could see the back end of a silver SUV and, oh my dear, there were more men than I could count in full gear with ‘police’ on the back and assault rifles in their hands,” Hanrahan said.“All you could hear were the dogs growling, clawing at the pavement to get to this vehicle, and men yelling.”Other witnesses said that after gunshot rang out, they saw a body on the ground.Soon after, police said the suspect was “in custody.” CTV News reported that Wortman was killed.Many details of the incident were still unclear, including what sparked the initial paroxysm of violence and why police believe Wortman was in a phony police car. Assistant Commissioner Lee Bergerman identified the slain officer as Heidi Stevenson, a 23-year police veteran and mother of two, though he did not provide details about when and where she was shot.“I met with Heidi’s family and there are no words to describe their pain,” Bergerman said.“Countless families are in mourning today.”Wortman has been in the news before. In 2014, he responded to a CTV story about a cancer survivor who lost her teeth and could not afford replacements. He offered to make new ones for free.“My heart went out to her,” Wortman said then. “There’s so many ways for people to get dentures, but it seems like the people who really need them are the people who are getting left behind.”Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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