By Canadian Press

Memorial to N.S. mass shooting victims to be removed, partly to deter gawkers

Sep 1, 2020 | 9:47 AM

HALIFAX — Four months after a lone gunman killed 22 people in rural Nova Scotia, the residents of the tiny village where the shooting started have decided to dismantle a large, makeshift memorial outside a former church.

The councillor for the Portapique area, Tom Taggart, said today the roadside shrine — festooned with flowers, cards, posters and stuffed animals — will be removed this weekend.

Taggart says residents have grown weary of vehicles stopping at the church and then heading to nearby Portapique Beach Road, the neighbourhood where the gunman killed 13 people on April 18 before murdering nine others the next day in several other communities.

The municipal politician says one neighbourhood resident complained that 187 vehicles had cruised past her home one evening a few months ago.

Tiffiany Ward, the head of a volunteer group that is planning to establish a permanent memorial, said today she is aware the morbid fascination of so many gawkers has tried the patience of grieving residents.

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Ward, however, says removing the existing memorial is necessary because the hundreds of items on display must be put into storage before winter descends on the village.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 1, 2020.

The Canadian Press