(CNN)The death toll in the Nova Scotia shooting rampage has risen to 22, police said Tuesday.
Police are still investigating 16 crime scenes after last weekend's shootings, when the gunman led police on a miles-long,12-hour manhunt across the Canadian province.
"We believe there to be 22 victims, including a 17-year-old," the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said in a statement Tuesday. The victims include a police constable, a corrections officer, a nurse and a teacher.
Gabriel Wortman, the gunman, died after a confrontation with police, the RCMP said. Authorities said he killed 22 people.
In the wake of the shootings, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his administration is moving ahead with stricter gun laws.
"In regards to gun control, we took very serious commitments in the election campaign and have moved forward -- and are moving forward on them -- to ensure that we're strengthening gun control in this country," Trudeau told reporters Monday, according to CNN media partner CTV News.
The crime scenes include five where devastating fires were set by the suspected gunman, police believe,. RCMP have now recovered remains from some of the fire sites, police said.
Authorities have not said what kind of weapons the gunman used.
Trudeau said while campaigning last year that he wanted to ban assault-style weapons across Canada and set up a buyback program for all military-grade weapons that had been legally purchased. Legislation was about to be introduced when Parliament was suspended over the coronavirus pandemic, Trudeau said.
Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil called the shootings one of the most senseless acts of violence in the province's history.
"I never imagined when I went to bed last night that I would wake up to the horrific news that an active shooter was on the loose in Nova Scotia," he said
0 Comments