Canadian denturist kills 22 people

Jeremy Booth, DTI

Thu. 30. April 2020

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PORTAPIQUE, Nova Scotia, Canada: The person believed to be responsible for Canada’s worst-ever mass shooting was a denturist who ran two denture clinics in the eastern maritime province of Nova Scotia. According to media reports, Gabriel Wortman’s deadly rampage began on April 18 and spanned 12 hours before he was shot by police.

Canada is mourning the victims of the mass shooting, among whom were a primary school teacher, two health care workers, a Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) officer and a family of three. Tributes to the victims have been held virtually, owing to social distancing measures that are in place to stop the spread of SARS-CoV-2.

Signage being removed from Gabriel Wortman’s Atlantic Denture Clinic in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia on April 22. (Image: Elizabeth Pepler/Facebook)

According to various media reports, the shootings began in the coastal town of Portapique, where the perpetrator is reported to have lived, and ended nearly 100 km away in Enfield, Nova Scotia. Wortman is thought to have arbitrarily traversed the territory in Nova Scotia, and his former girlfriend and her new partner are reported to have been the first two victims.

The Canadian Broadcasting Corp. said that at least five buildings and cars were burnt in the course of the rampage, and the media agency confirmed that the shooter was wearing an RCMP uniform and driving a replica RCMP vehicle.

Wortman has been described as a wealthy denturist with a fixation with police memorabilia. He attended the University of New Brunswick and initially studied to become a mortician before pursuing denturism and becoming a licensed denturist. He owns a denture clinic in Dartmouth and another in Halifax, both in Nova Scotia.

According to the Associated Press, Wortman had been forced to temporarily close his Atlantic Denture Clinic practice owing to the COVID-19 pandemic. Police investigations are ongoing, including into the motive of the perpetrator.

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