In one of the deadliest attacks in the country, a gunman disguised as a police officer shot people in their homes and set houses on fire across the Canadian province of Nova Scotia that took away as many as 16 lives. Officials on Sunday, April 19, said that the suspected shooter was also shot dead.

A police officer among those who died was a female constable and a 23-year veteran of the force. Several bodies were found inside and outside one home in the town of Portapique, about 100 km north of Halifax, where the first scene erupted.

The attack began late on Saturday, April18, after which several bodies were found at different locations. The police claim that the attacker may have shot the first victim and then began attacking randomly.

After the attacks grew intense, police advised the residents to lock their doors and stay in their basements as the attacker went on to set several houses on fire.

Police identified the shooter as Gabriel Wortman, 51, and said that he was disguised in a police uniform and made his car look like a Royal Canadian Mounted Police cruiser.

Police initially claimed that they had arrested Wortman at a gas station in Enfield, but later announced that he had died. ‘This is one of the most senseless acts of violence in our province’s history,’ Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil said.

RCMP spokesman Daniel Brien said that 16 people were killed in addition to the attacker.

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