Neighbour saw mock RCMP car drive away from mass shooting victim in Wentworth
Haley Ryan | CBC News | Posted: March 30, 2022 4:41 PM | Last Updated: March 30, 2022
Warning: details included in this story are disturbing
Lillian Campbell set out for a long walk in the Wentworth Valley of Nova Scotia the morning of April 19, 2020, as she did most days.
A typical chilly Maritime spring morning, Campbell wore her mittens, scarf and sunglasses, carrying her walking stick and wearing a high-visibility vest as she left home around 9 a.m. She and her husband, Michael Hyslop, lived on Highway 246, just off Highway 4.
The TV, computer and their cellphones were on that morning, but neither had heard anything about an incident in the nearby community of Portapique.
As Campbell walked a short stretch of highway between her street and another side road — her usual route — an RCMP car passed her.
Documents released Wednesday by the Mass Casualty Commission indicate the car slowed down, changed direction, and pulled up beside Campbell. The man in the police car shot her once at 9:30 a.m., before turning the vehicle around once more and continuing on his way south.
Hyslop wouldn't find out about his wife's death for another hour and a half — and his suspicion was only raised after a call from his stepmother.
The details surrounding Campbell's death on the morning of April 19 in Wentworth, hours after the shooting rampage began in Portapique, are included in a document released Wednesday by the Mass Casualty Commission.
The commission is tasked with examining the events of April 18 and 19, when Gabriel Wortman killed 22 people, including a pregnant woman.
No casings were found at the scene of Campbell's death, so it's "plausible" the gunman shot her at close range from inside his car, according to the commission.
Investigators with the commission gathered details from 911 call logs, interviews and statements from civilian witnesses and RCMP officers on the ground.
Campbell's neighbour Mary-Ann Jay was sewing on the second floor of her home on Highway 4 that morning when she heard a gunshot.
She looked out the window to see what she described as "an RCMP car" slowly turning around and heading south, toward Truro. Jay then saw a body lying on the side of the road, which at first she thought was a mannequin.
But she looked again, and recognized the clothing as Campbell's.
Jay ran out to where Campbell was lying, and believed she was dead. She ran back inside and called 911 at 9:35 a.m.
"Oh my God! The RCMP just left — cause he turned around and went down the road I saw him going," Jay told the dispatcher.
Mary-Ann's husband, Reginald Jay, pulled into the driveway at this time, after completing his routine rounds checking on the seasonal cottages in the area.
He checked Campbell's pulse, and saw she had been shot in the head. Reginald got a blanket to cover her body, and stayed with her on the roadside.
Scott Brumwell, a health-care worker and former paramedic, soon stopped. Reginald told him Mary-Ann was still on the phone with 911, but she'd seen an RCMP car leave the area and he was confused about why it left.
RCMP dispatchers broadcast the details of Mary-Ann's call over both Cumberland and Colchester radio channels at 9:41 a.m. and 9:42 a.m., including how she'd seen a marked RCMP car.
This was the first indication for RCMP members, and the Emergency Response Team still in Portapique, that the gunman was on the move.
While waiting for police, the 911 dispatcher told Mary-Ann her husband should go in the house for his own safety, but she responded that they didn't want to leave Campbell's body alone.
"I understand that, but if — if we think someone has been shot there, it may not be safe for them to be outside in that area," the dispatcher said.
They did not tell Mary-Ann about the ongoing active shooter situation, or what had happened in Portapique. Both Reginald and Brumwell stayed with Campbell until the first RCMP officer arrived at 10:09 a.m.
Campbell's husband hears of shooting
Hyslop wasn't expecting his wife back until about 10:30 a.m. or 11 a.m., since she had set off for her lengthy walk around 9 a.m.
Around 10:45 a.m., Hyslop's stepmother called to say she'd heard about a woman being shot in Wentworth and that he should "go get Lillian."
Hyslop drove out of their street and immediately saw a large police scene on Highway 4 outside the Jays' house. He said he was surprised, because he hadn't heard sirens.
He spotted someone lying under a blanket on the roadside, and told police at the scene he was looking for his wife who hadn't come home from her walk.
Const. Richard Harvey spoke with Hyslop, who described what Campbell had been wearing, and realized it matched the dead woman. But Harvey knew Staff Sgt. Craig Learning was en route to the scene and "decided to wait" until the higher-ranking member arrived before telling Hyslop anything.
Hyslop was told to wait in his car, which he did for another 15 to 20 minutes until Learning arrived.
Husband learns details from media
Counter and Learning spoke with Hyslop, who showed them a photo of Campbell. Based on that identification, the police told Hyslop his wife was the homicide victim on the roadside.
"I got out of my car, tried standing but found it hard," Hyslop recalled in written answers to the commission.
Hyslop was then taken to his stepmother's home who lived nearby, and returned to his own house later that day. On Sunday afternoon two other RCMP officers came to see him and took a brief statement.
In the following days Hyslop said he got calls from the major crimes and victim services "but was not given details on what actually happened." He said most of the information he received about Campbell's death was from various media sources.
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