Jenny Kierstead said her sister Lisa McCully was one of the victims of the mass shooting in Nova Scotia.
“This is so hard to write but many of you will want to know. Our hearts are broken today as we attempt to accept the loss of my sister, Lisa McCully, who was one of the victims of the mass shooting in Portapique last night,” she wrote in a Facebook post Sunday afternoon.
“Our condolences go out to the other family members who are affected by this tragedy. Thank you for your support, it’s a hard day.”
Ms. McCully is listed as a Grade 3/4 teacher on the Debert Elementary School website.
“[Our] hearts are broken along with those of her colleagues and students at Debert Elementary, as well as her family and friends who knew her not only as a passionate teacher but as a shining love in their lives,” Nova Scotia Teachers’ Union President Paul Wozney wrote in a statement Sunday night.
“There are no words to capture the loss Nova Scotia has suffered today. This is a devastating time for all communities affected across our province. Let’s reach out to those in our circle who have seen loved ones lost or injured and offer our love and support.”
In a Facebook post, Jessica MacBurnie shared a photo of Jamie Blair and Greg Blair, and wrote that “two beautiful souls were lost today … and many more.”
“I have absolutely no words for the heartache my family & many others are going through. This was such a careless act, & many who should have never lost their lives. My heart is breaking for my family, my heart is breaking for everyone else suffering through this tragedy,” wrote Ms. MacBurnie.
“My family has been through so much, no one should have ever had to deal with this. I love you both so much, & sending all my love to my family & every other families who lost someone today,” she said, tagging the pair in the post.
Constable Heidi Stevenson, who hails from Nova Scotia, was with the RCMP for 23 years. She was a married mother of two children, aged 10 and 13. At one point, she was the media spokesperson for the province’s RCMP force. RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki said she doesn’t know the circumstances of the fallen officer’s death, but Constable Stevenson was responding to the “active shooter incident.”
Constable Stevenson’s husband, Dean Stevenson, teaches at a Halifax-area high school, said a statement from the President of the Nova Scotia Teachers’ Union. “Losing one of our own – it’s like a family member. But also in a province like Nova Scotia, Const. Heidi Stevenson, she would be part of that community. Her kids would be going to school in that community. My heart’s broken,” Commissioner Lucki said.
Heather O’Brien, a nurse from Truro, N.S., was among the dead. Her daughter, Darcy Dobson, confirmed her mother’s death in a Facebook post Sunday, saying a “monster” had murdered her. Ms. Dobson’s post said Ms. O’Brien last spoke to her family by text message at 9:59 a.m. on Sunday and she was “gone” by 10:15 a.m. She remembered her mother as “kind” and “beautiful.”
“I want everyone to remember how kind she was. How much she loved being a nurse. The way her eyes sparkled when she talked to her grandchildren and the way she just loved Christmas. Let those things define her. Not the horrible way she died,” the post read.
Another one of Ms. O’Brien’s daughters, Katie Devine, posted a photo of her and her mother on Facebook Sunday with a caption reading, “I never said I love you as much as I should have.”
Ms. O’Brien’s niece, Megan Brown, also took to Facebook to remember her aunt as a spiritual woman who loved her family.
“She is not just my Aunt Heather. She is a wife, a mother, a big sister, a grandmother, an aunt, a nurse, a healer, a listener, a guide, a bright light in so many lives. I can’t believe she is gone,” Ms. Brown’s post read. “The world is a darker place without you.”
MICHELLE CARBERT, JANICE DICKSON, LAURA STONE,
LINDSAY JONES AND MOLLY HAYES
The Globe and Mail, April 19, 2020