MCC Day 12 - Onslow Belmont Fire Hall & Shubenacadie

I attended the MCC proceedings in person for the first time, and heard the Foundational Document presentations on the police shootings of the Onslow Belmont Fire Hall and the subsequent events in the Shubenacadie area. Those later events included the deaths of Cst. Heidi Stevenson, and Joey Webber. There was also a witness panel from the Fire Hall, which featured Chief Greg Muise, Deputy Chief Darrell Currie, and Richard Ellison. The presentation of the fire hall shooting discussed the mistaken shots fired by two RCMP officers at both a fellow officer and an EMO coordinator who the officers claim to have thought was the killer. Though this was not evident from listening to the presentation this morning, there are significant discrepancies in the accounts of the officers, as compared to other witnesses, including the suggestion that a warning was shouted to the mistaken targets. It was a very dangerous situation, which will no doubt be the subject of further witness examinations. The panel of witnesses revealed the terror felt by those inside the fire hall, who naturally thought the killer was the one firing at them, and the mental health struggles the memories have engendered. They also discussed how the terror was exacerbated by the fact that nobody told them things were safe, even once the misunderstanding was established. Instead, they had to wait nearly an hour to learn they were not in mortal danger. The Shubenacadie Foundational Document presentation laid out two confrontations the killer had with two individual RCMP officers, including the fatal encounter with Heidi Stevenson. Cst. Chad Morrison was able to drive away from the killer despite being shot. The killer pulled up along-side Cst. Morrison and shot, then rammed Cst. Stevenson head on in his mock police cruiser. Though she was able to fire 14 or 15 shots at him, she was killed in the firefight. Earlier that morning, Heidi Stevenson had suggested that an alert go out to the public about the active shooter situation. Had her advice been heeded, Joey Webber would likely still be alive. He was out running some errands, and happened upon the scene of the two officers. Being a good samaratin, he stopped to offer his help, and was also killed. The MCC is back on Wednesday.