‘We don’t know what they were firing at’: Mounties’ gunfire during hunt for N.S. mass killer under review

HALIFAX-A watchdog is reviewing the actions of two RCMP officers who fired shots outside a fire hall that was being used to help evacuees during the Nova Scotia massacre.

The head of the province's police watchdog says the gunman at the centre of authorities' manhunt wasn't on site at the time of the incident Sunday and that "We don't know what they were firing at."

Shots rang out early Sunday morning at the Onslow Belmont fire hall, which was being used as staging area to shelter evacuees while the RCMP hunted for a gunman.

Inside, fire Chief Greg Muise and the four people inside heard the shots around 10:20 a.m. and hustled into a back room, away from the glass front doors.

"Our hall was fired at," said Muise. "Not really sure who fired, because I was inside the building when it happened and nobody contacted us to say who was shooting."

A few minutes later, after the shooting stopped, he said, two RCMP officers called in to make sure everyone was OK. A few minutes after that, they were told that they were clear to come out.

Muise said they found several bullet holes in the wall of the hall, and some in their fire trucks. Asked what the RCMP told him about the incident, Muise said: "They didn't say a word."

The fire chief said there had been an RCMP officer in his vehicle outside the hall before the shooting began.

It's unclear how the incident, which is now being reviewed by the police watchdog agency in Nova Scotia, fits into the broader context of the hunt for a man who killed 22 people over the weekend - and was himself dressed as an RCMP officer at times.

A Facebook post initially put up by the Onslow Belmont Fire Brigade then later removed, however, hinted at the confusion on the ground that day among residents.

"Two people who appear to be RCMP officers enter our property, one to the front and one to the rear," said the post, which was recorded by the Truro Daily News. "No one identified themselves as an RCMP officer. They left our property shortly after the gunfire."

The Serious Incident Response Team, which invesitgates incidents that arise from the actions of police, has confirmed that two RCMP officers were firing their weapons.

Pat Curran, SIRT's interim director, said that the two officers "arrived at, or about the same time", that they were near each other, and that the suspect in the mass shootings was not on the scene.

"We don't know what they were firing at."

With files from Ted Fraser