Nova Scotia shootings

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Im not defending him by the way....but more to say, how can these things be predicted sometimes if the clues are not obvious?
 
I read something today that suggests he has a history of violent behaviours. I imagine his charm and good looks helped him to get away with it. I was struck by the rage involved in this horrific act. I'd be shocked if he did not have a history of violence of some kind.
 
I guess in some respects, I can see how the RCMP may not have issued an alert. It seems the crime scenes were some distance from one another, possibly not obvious initially that these were all the work of one person. We don't get alerts for suspected murder or arson events ... which perhaps these appeared to be at the time. Things evolved over 12 hours and widespread geography. I don't think there were any reports (that I've read anyway) of eyewitness to a person at large firing randomly at people - which perhaps would have called for an alert.

@Waterfall - I don't think events like this can be predicted most of the time - if ever. In hindsight, clues/potential predictors are discovered - but that's hindsight, not predictive.
 
I read something today that suggests he has a history of violent behaviours. I imagine his charm and good looks helped him to get away with it. I was struck by the rage involved in this horrific act. I'd be shocked if he did not have a history of violence of some kind.

The thing is, one conviction of assault in almost twenty years isn't going to ring any alarm bells. If he's not a "troublemaker" or getting into frequent dustups with the law, no one is likely to flag him as a risk. It certainly does not suggest he is capable of something like this, even if it could suggest a risk of committing other assaults. If he had a history of violence, IOW, people weren't reporting it.
 
The thing is, one conviction of assault in almost twenty years isn't going to ring any alarm bells. If he's not a "troublemaker" or getting into frequent dustups with the law, no one is likely to flag him as a risk. It certainly does not suggest he is capable of something like this, even if it could suggest a risk of committing other assaults. If he had a history of violence, IOW, people weren't reporting it.

The article I read suggested numerous incidents and behaviours. They may not have resulted in charges. I'll look for the article.
 
Still, one charge 19 years ago hardly paints him as a desperado. People do far worse and still come across as happy or jovial in public. Sex abusers, for instance, rarely come across as horrible people until the truth comes out.
I can see where someone can come across that way sometimes. The always jovial description doesn't add up to me though. I've been seeing the word alcoholic mentioned many times. He's had an argument with police with behaviour that wasn't contributing to conflict resolution. He tried to bribe the kid he assaulted. The obsession with the RCMP.
I get the feeling of someone who can come across as happy and quickly turn, and those who would have known him as more than just a casual acquaintance would have likely seen that.

There are many people who do violent things without ever having had a charge or police called. People who get drunk and throw things. An adult who goes out and beats up a teenager, where there seems to be no relation? What has he done behind closed doors?
 
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Nova Scotia gunman

"Details are slowly emerging about the shooter’s life that included a string of disputes with police, tenants and even family members, according to interviews and court records."

I realize this is limited information. Time will tell. I highly doubt that a man who could do this would have a quiet past.
 
Many of his neighbours and friends are very surprised in some reports....describing him as helpful, jovial very kind, etc.....although they did say he had girlfriend issues....so I guess it depends on who you ask.
I think this type of thing is pretty much always a surprise. I don't expect people to predict it. With things written about him though, I highly suspect that those who knew him well could have easily seen red flags of violence if they knew what to look for. Not that anyone expects this level of violence though.
 
Nova Scotia gunman

"Details are slowly emerging about the shooter’s life that included a string of disputes with police, tenants and even family members, according to interviews and court records."

I realize this is limited information. Time will tell. I highly doubt that a man who could do this would have a quiet past.

I'd want details. I no longer trust the media when it throws out broad generalities like that. Sometimes "string of disputes" turns out to be "an incident five years ago that dragged on for months". In this case, I imagine the disputes with tenants and family members could be the ones I read about and none involved violence, just him being an ass and trying to steal people's properties using legal leverage (and he did pull it off at least once). Property developers do that all the time to people and no one expects them to turn into mass murderers.

IOW, I acknowledge that the guy was probably a scum-sucking bottom feeder in his business and personal relationships, but that's not grounds to suspect him of being a gun-toting psychopath. Else I know a couple successful local businessmen that I should stay away from.
 
Okay here's the article I read that says he was a "nice" neighbour:

Also says this:
“He was very jovial,” neighbour Nancy Hudson said in an interview just outside her house in Portapique. “But there is another side to Gabe. He had some issues, especially with his girlfriend.
...
There was some underlying issues that I think he had with his relationship. It was a red flag .... (What happened on the weekend) wasn't a surprise to some degree, but not to this extreme.”

To me that indicates he has a mean streak and at least one neighbour knew it. He may have be jovial around her, but she knew that wasn't how he always was with everyone.
 
To me that indicates he has a mean streak and at least one neighbour knew it. He may have be jovial around her, but she knew that wasn't how he always was with everyone.

I've known lots of people with a mean streak. None of them have committed one murder, let alone 22. If we start looking askance at anyone who's a bit cranky or temperamental, we're into a Minority Report situation where we're locking people up on suspicion that they might commit a crime.
 
I've known lots of people with a mean streak. None of them have committed one murder, let alone 22. If we start looking askance at anyone who's a bit cranky or temperamental, we're into a Minority Report situation where we're locking people up on suspicion that they might commit a crime.
Right, again I'm not saying this should have been predicted. The 'always jovial' sounds like BS though. It seems like when stuff like this happens there's at least one comment about how big of a shock it is because they were such a great person or some variation of that. Typically, I would say there are some type of red flags of violence. Not that this is expected, but if looking into the signs they aren't the type of person where it would be hugely shocking that they were abusive to a partner, got into a drunk fist fight, etc.
 
Also says this:
“He was very jovial,” neighbour Nancy Hudson said in an interview just outside her house in Portapique. “But there is another side to Gabe. He had some issues, especially with his girlfriend.
...
There was some underlying issues that I think he had with his relationship. It was a red flag .... (What happened on the weekend) wasn't a surprise to some degree, but not to this extreme.”

To me that indicates he has a mean streak and at least one neighbour knew it. He may have be jovial around her, but she knew that wasn't how he always was with everyone.
I really don't know to be honest. And even though we can all speculate on his character.... it seems he will always be defined from this last hideous act, no matter what good or bad he did before.
 
We all know people who are jovial to some and violent to others. Many spouse abusers are well liked outside of the home. In fact, when the police show up the police somethings think it's the victim who's the problem. Charming and jovial can be red flags.
 
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