Canada’s worst shooting spree in modern history has left us with far more questions than answers. Journey inside every single hour of this tragedy as it happened with Global News Halifax reporter Sarah Ritchie. This 13-part true crime series pieces together exactly what happened and what could or should have been done to prevent it.

Started strong but in order to achieve the episode by hour novelty theme, the same details are repeated ad nauseam. It could have been condensed to a few episodes and been much stronger. I gave up after 4 episodes.

Wow. I got to episode 10 and came to a hard realization. Throughout the podcast, the theme of the terror and the horrifying impact that the event has had on survivors and the community is constant. Many individuals spoke of their long term trauma after this single isolated event. But do we investigate cities and neighborhoods and individuals who endure gunfire and violence on a DAILY basis ?? Compare two firefighters in rural Canada who experience gunfire into their firehouse, to families and children in Milwaukee or Chicago who experience this ALL THE TIME. Let’s hear their trauma!

Long-form true crime is my favorite, but I’m so spoiled now it’s hard to find one that really grabs me. This one had me hooked right away. I don’t really get the bad reviews - seems like people who may be biased toward police. Love her reporting style and it’s impeccably researched and respectful to victims.

Listeners will share your emotions - bewilderment, outrage, etc - if your thorough reporting is also dispassionate.

Solid reporting on such a devastating event. So many aspects to be covered. RCMP struggled to understand what they were dealing with and no one can blame them - historically the RCMP have been set up for an assault on them while reporting to domestic violence situations. The fact the No area wide communication was issued reflects the idea that commanding officers were also afraid for their officers being shot by a fearful public - The entire situation was a real time horror. First thing that needs to be done is to make it an offence to be in possession of any and all current police products. My heart goes out to all involved, none of them will ever be the same again.

Very well done and well researched and narrated. It will be interesting to see what changes are made to the RCMP after the public inquiry. Releasing updates the the local community by Twitter— how ridiculous!

Awful story that is well told. It took me a while to realize the pronunciation difference of the word decal. She pronounces it “deckle” instead of “DEE-cal.” I admit I was confused.

I couldn’t make it through two episodes with all the repetition and complete bias. More focused on the police than the crime. Probably could have all been summed up in 5 episodes at most. So much potential but mostly a waste of time.

I cringed through the first three episodes and gave up in episode four. With such an interesting and terrible case it’s incredible that it seems like it’s not even the shooters fault, I guess this author wants to blame the government.

Well articulated and great delivery of a fascinating story and botched police action. I thought US law enforcement were the only ones FUBAR but apparently bad policing is in Canada too. I hope some improvement comes of this knowledge.

Made us think this was going to tell more of the story. After ep. 4, one would think real cops did this instead of a man in an RCMP costume. RCMP is not obligated to give everything that they know to the media and it very much seems like like the media particularly Global News did much more harm than good and continues this practice. Media and public are not entitled to itra-police information, that’s just preposterous to assume. A few minutes to the memory of of victims and families, an hour and a half to feel sorry for 2 grown men that were perfectly safe in a building, but “could have” been harmed. This whole story just goes totally twisted. This reporter is just horribly sick and obviously has a grudge.

The first few episodes are very well done, very in depth and well researched but after that it turns into a hit piece on the RCMP. I mean who’s more qualified to tell you what’s right and wrong in a police investigation than a journalist.

The narration manages to be grimly accurate but also thoughtful of the souls involved, and maintains clarity across a complex story with multiple threads. Impeccable research, delivery, and audio production.

This podcast was great Episode 1-4 then completely lost steam. It went off the rails when as kept going back to the various feminist activists for comment. episode 13 - Trump’s muslim ban’s was at fault for Quebec 🙄

The host asks, what were the police doing during the first 2 hours of the crime spree? Do you really expect them to know exactly what this maniac is doing in 120 minutes? For goodness sake, the police are not mind readers. Did the partner of the maniac do anything? She’s the one who probably knew what he was planning. I blame her and the shooter. The DC Sniper in the US, was able to kill for weeks and you’re complaining about 13 hours?

Ironic how Canada’s gun laws didn’t stop the bad guy. They only stopped the victims from self defense. Such a shame

Very well balanced. Gives depth to the victims, survivors, and background of perpetrators. Clear objective, sticks to the facts, yet not devoid of appropriate emotion. The host reminds us that humanity and empathy is relevant in law enforcement too.

This is a compelling telling of a tragic story. I just wish the reporter were a little less had on law enforcement. Nova Scotia is a historically tranquil place. I think it would be hard for the RCMP here to be equipped to deal with such an unprecedented level of violence. If they were, they would be militarized like police in the US. This doesn’t make what happened any less tragic, but it really was an extraordinary and unforeseeable event.

Terrible crime. Amazing reporting. Thank you for sharing this fascinating story.

Way too long between episodes for a continuous story

This was well done. I appreciate the clever order in which it was told.

Very dry reporting of a tragic crime spree that relies more on quality production and an undeniably compelling series of facts. Nighttime and others did real reporting of this unique story as the facts unfolded and the world sought answers as to what happened in Nova Scotia. This is another example of a television reporter looking to broaden their exposure by exploiting the true crime genre for listeners unfamiliar with these horrible events. Independent journalists and CBC create better investigative podcasts with far less of an underlying story. And what’s a Canadian podcast without even a mention of Tim Hortons in one of the first three episodes. I also apologize to all of Canada for the disgrace of Donald Trump—people of character never voted for him or supported any of his racism or madness. Beware of many of the northern lunatics on our side of the boarder. No doubt that this killer would have supported Trump

The host says she will give you an hour by hour of the event. Most of this podcast is “explaining” what the RMCP did wrong. Some of the information makes no sense. For example, the host tells you the police should have investigated the allegations about Gabriel beating on his partner. It’s a crime blah blah. Many weeks later of the RMCP did investigate it it would be nearly impossible to prove. It is likely she wouldn’t press charges anyways. The US has have plenty of spree killers and we still haven’t learned to contain them. It sounds like the RMCP walked into chaos and the host is just trying to pick out what they did wrong. It comes off as let’s place all the blame on the RMCP instead of the shooter.

I am very excited to listen every time a new episode comes out! There is so much information being revealed, and it is great to get the full story. Just a random question though: do all Canadians pronounce “decal (DE-CAL)” as “deckle”? Haha took me forever to figure out what she was talking about!

This true-crime podcast is about the very recent crime of the 2020 Nova Scotia Massacre which happened in April of this year and was a mass shooting but unlike any others I’ve heard of. I say this not to sensationalize it but to highly how different the shooter went about the crime as well as how unusual the shooter himself was. Here in America where I live we hear a lot about young kids committing mass killings in schools but this crime isn’t anything like that. The show takes you through the 13-hour shooting spree that left 22 people dead, 3 injured, and 16 locations on fire. Solo host of the 13 part miniseries Sarah Ritchie, a reporter for Global News in Halifax, tells the confusion of the quiet community of Portapique as it erupted into gunfire and flames and what about the perpetrator caused the scrambled initial response of the RCMP. It opens up an interesting discussion of what led up to the shootings and what could have been done to prevent it in the middle of a pandemic lockdown in a place where the weapons used were already banned. It’s one of the saddest thorough accounts of a mass shooting I’ve heard on par with the account of the Pulse Nightclub Shootings. About half of the 13 parts have been released with the latest one coming out on December 21st and on average their length is about 37 minutes long with no commercials. New episodes seem to come out twice a month. All voices including the host and guests have been recorded in good quality and the music isn’t overpowering but complementary. Trigger warnings with domestic abuse, mass shootings, and mental health. Itunes has a solid 5 star average ratings with 77 ratings and 11 written reviews. Similar Pods: Dateline, The Piketon Massacre, Canadian True Crime, Something Was Wrong, Crime Beat, Do No Harm, 22 Hours An American Nightmare, Missing Pieces, Atlanta Monster, The Trail Went Cold, Who Killed Grandma Nancy, Monster Trial: Ivan Milat, The Teacher's Pet

Horrifying events but the narrator and writers do an excellent job of making it easy to understand and follow along. I would definitely recommend this.

First I would like to say I REALLY LIKE this podcast. I didn’t even know this happened and I am not far away. I live in Boston, MA. Really good content and great format. The storing telling is excellent and I love all the psychoanalysis (just like the Serial Killers and Real Crime Profile Podcasts). That’s why I was so surprised you gave the real ID of Beth. I’m sure she was a victim of Coercive Control. Therefore she probably feared for her life and safety if she refused to give Gabriel Wortman the ammunition. Regardless of being a victim of violent crime that terrible night. Based on what has been discussed about Wortman, she was probably a victim every night she was with Wortman. I just think ID-ing her was wrong and it sounded like victim blaming to me. Anybody may be able to Search the internet and find her identity anyway. But most likely she is a victim of coercive control and whatever she may have been forced to do for Wortman should not be held against her now. But what is done is done. Love this podcast and I like to say I enjoy the dialect and accent...I share those traits with you. Good job and keep up the good work. Can’t wait for the Next Episode!

It seriously took me 20-30 minutes of listening to figure out she was saying, “decal” (de-cal) when she kept saying, “deckle.” And I’m still not 100% sure that’s what she’s talking about... There have been a few other words I’ve struggled to make sense of, but it’s just a Canada Vs. America thing. Outside of figuring out pronunciation differences, this podcast is really great so far! Wonderfully clear and concise, but still very much in depth, and sensibly laid out. I don’t recall this being a huge story one American news at the time (we’ve had our own madman on the loose for a few years), so a lot of this is very new to me, so it’s very intriguing.

My only complaint is that I want a new episode every day!!!!

Just started listening to podcasts. I’m compelled by not only the content, but the narration and flow. I don’t wish any more tragedy like this, but hope they consider investigating ones cases.

Thank you for this podcast, it is super informative. I’m in the states (west coast)and shocked we never heard about this. Sounds like a first for a lot of people and it affected them, police included. We all hope lessons are learned and can be applied for situations next time.

I can’t believe I didn’t even hear about this!! Gripping so far. WHERE IS THE NEXT EPISODE

Great listen!

Very interesting story, exceptionally written narrative, and sensitively presented topic. Looking forward to more of the same.