RCMP say they were preparing an emergency alert

RCMP were in the process of preparing an emergency alert when a suspected gunman was shot and killed by police Sunday morning.

That's according to Chief Superintendent Chris Leather, who made the announcement at a news conference Wednesday afternoon.

Mounties also used their Twitter account to provide frequent updates on the unfolding situation.

Leather says Nova Scotia Provincial Emergency Management officials contacted the RCMP at 10:15 a.m. to offer up the emergency alert system.

At that point, a series of phone calls were made to coordinate the alert.

“A lot of the delay was based on communications between the EMO and various officers, and then a discussion about the message, how it would be constructed and what it would say,” Leather said. “In that hour and a bit, in that amount of time of consultation, is when the subject was killed at 11:26 [a.m.].”