These recordings were obtained by freelance journalist Paul Palango (Paul Palango), who has been covering mass shootings for Frank and Nightime podcasts. CBC doesn’t know who shared these calls with him. The magazine posted them online on Wednesday night.

The calls were made by Jamie Blair, a resident of Potapick, and her 12-year-old son at the time and a man who lived nearby. He was shot and killed by a gunman while driving, but survived. difficult.

Jamie and Greg Blair were among the 22 people killed between April 18-19, 2020. At that time, a 51-year-old dentist disguised as a mounted police officer, and within 13 hours in Potapek and other places, he gave advice to neighbors, acquaintances and vegetarians. People who hadn’t met shot. The central Nova Scotia communities of Wentworth, Debert, and Shubenacadie. He also burned down three houses of the people he killed.

The Mass Injury Commission, a joint federal and provincial investigative agency responsible for investigating the tragedy, issued a statement on Thursday stating that it “condemns the visit and release of highly sensitive recordings.

The statement said: “We are very worried about the privacy of those affected by the content, especially children.”

At the same time, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said it was investigating whether the release of the recording violated any laws.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police condemns public recording

“In view of the heartbreaking impact on the families of the victims and our employees, we publicly condemn the publication of the recording,” Astor said. Commissioner Lee Bergman, Commander of the Royal Nova Scotia Mounted Police.

She said the family liaison officer of the unit has assured her family that the mounted police are investigating the situation.

Due to public investigations and lawsuits, the Mounted Police have not yet commented on the mass shooting.

Three city councillors representing parts of Nova Scotia affected by the tragedy said they were worried that their family members would be traumatized again by the 911 call.

Colchester City Councillors Lisa Patton, Marie Benoit, and Tom Taggart said in a joint statement: “Children are violated in this way Privacy crosses a line of dignity and respect that should not be crossed.”

On Sunday, April 19, police shot and killed Gabriel Waterman at a gas station in Enfield, New South Wales. At that time, he had driven nearly 200 kilometers, and for most of that time, he was driving a retired police car with decals — making it almost identical to a real officer’s vehicle.

In the audio released by Frank Magazine on Wednesday night, before the RCMP arrived in the community, between 10pm and 10:25pm, three callers could be heard telling the 911 dispatcher about a gunman and a gunman. A police car. The RCMP did not share with the public their suspect disguised as a mounted police. Another 12 hours passed, at which time the unit posted a photo of a replica cruiser on Twitter.

During the call, Jamie Blair specifically mentioned that her neighbor, a dentist driving a police car, shot and killed her husband. Her son told the 911 operator that the man who killed his parents drove out of the driveway in a police car. A resident of Portapique was shot and survived while driving. He recognized his neighbor by his name. CBC decided not to disclose the name of the man who was shot.

Last fall, CBC’s Fifth Manor The report said that the man called 911 to report two fires on Orchard Beach Drive, and relayed that when a cruiser was set ablaze, there appeared to be a RCMP on the cruiser outside the residence.

In an audio statement that the man provided to a private investigator working on behalf of the victim’s family, he said he was talking on the phone with the dispatcher when the cruiser approached him, and the driver he recognized as a neighbor shot him . His account was also included in the search warrant file opened by the court.

CBC News previously reported that Tyler Blair stated that investigators told him that his stepmother was the first person to call for help at 10:01 p.m., and reported that her husband was shot and killed outside the home. The younger brother then called 911 for help. Neighbor’s house.

911 system transfer call

The Nova Scotia Emergency Management Office is responsible for managing the 911 system, and there are four call centers in the province. When people make a call, they first speak with a provincial 911 operator, who then transfers them to police, poison control, fire, or emergency medical services.

The audio excerpt published by Frank appeared to come from the first time the caller dialed 911, before the receiver determined that they needed to speak with the RCMP. In two of the calls, the 911 operator appeared to be communicating with a third person about the firefighter’s needs.

Brendan Maguire, the minister of the Emergency Management Office, which oversees the 911 system, said this was the first time in 20 years that the audio of a 911 call was “leaked”.

“It is very important for people to understand the confidentiality of 911 calls,” he said.

“People call people who are attacked. In some of the worst cases, the worst in their lives, the public needs to be assured that when they call, these calls are private.”

Attorney General Randy Delorey (Randy Delorey) said his department is studying whether to submit the news of the call to the privacy commissioner for investigation.

The last RCMP press conference 1 year ago

In the days after the tragedy, RCMP officials admitted that they had received information about a police car from the injured man in Potapik, but they emphasized that most of the information about the suspect came at dawn Yes, the spouse of the gunman came out of hiding.

“This includes his possession of a fully marked and fully equipped replica RCMP vehicle and wearing a police uniform,” Suput said. Darren Campbell at the press conference on April 24, 2020.

At a press conference on April 22, when asked when the police determined that the gunman was wearing a police uniform and driving a replica cruiser, the chief police officer. Chris Leather said that Waterman’s spouse’s “key witness” provided information between 7 am and 8 am on April 19.

“Before this, we didn’t have all these details,” Leather said. “At that time we received most of the details about our suspects.”

The police also stated that although they knew that the gunman owned several retired vehicles, they believed he had three and did not know the fourth one until they talked with his spouse Lisa Banfield.

Thursday afternoon, Cpl. Lisa Croteau reiterated these statements in response to CBC’s questions.

She said in an email: “We learned of a possible suspect quite early when we intervened, and this person lives in a house in the Potapik community.”

Croto said that Saturday night, the suspect’s home and garage were on fire, and two police cars were parked in his house. But she said that it wasn’t until the RCMP spoke with their “key witnesses” on Sunday morning that they “confirmed that the suspect was Gabriel Waterman, who owned a fully marked and fully equipped replica vehicle and was wearing a police uniform. , I have multiple guns.”

Since June 4, 2020, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police has not held a press conference on their investigation into the mass shooting.

For anyone who needs mental health support as a result of calling 911, the committee has established a confidential 24-hour crisis hotline at 1-888-429-8167.

Nova Scotia also provides 24/7 support through the Mental Health Crisis Hotline at 1-888-429-8167.