Police remove teeth, signage from denture clinic owned by N.S. shooter

Disturbing history of the N.S. mass shooter The Globe and Mail's Greg Mercer discusses the dozens of disturbing personal stories that have emerged about the Nova Scotia mass shooter.

HALIFAX — Halifax Regional Police have removed a decorative smile, dentures, and exterior signage that was affixed outside the denture clinic run by the man who committed one of the largest mass murders in Canadian history.

“We have had reports from members of the community that they are troubled by the presence of some signage of one of the properties in Dartmouth belonging to the person responsible for the recent mass tragedy in Nova Scotia,” said police in a release.

Twenty-two Nova Scotians were killed in the weekend rampage, which spanned 16 crime scenes in several communities. The suspect, 51-year-old Gabriel Wortman, was eventually killed by police at a gas station in Enfield, N.S., late Sunday morning.

On Wednesday afternoon, police were seen removing the large pink smile and set of dentures from the exterior of the denturist’s Atlantic Denture Clinic at 193 Portland St. in Dartmouth, N.S.

“We recognize that communities have been deeply affected across Nova Scotia and the country,” said Halifax Regional Police Chief Dan Kinsella. “This step to remove signage from the Portland Street property was taken due to the unprecedented nature of this tragedy and in the interest of public safety.”

Earlier in the week, a petition on Change.org was launched, calling for the oversized smile to be removed from the building.

“Nova Scotia is grieving the loss of so many of our family and friends. And yet, we have a smile along Portland St. in Downtown Dartmouth that is a painful reminder of the cowardess acts of a local denturist. We want him forgotten. Every second it stays up is a slap in the face to the victims and their families. It needs to come down now. Please remove it,” said Lynn Maughan, who created the petition.

The petition received nearly 7,000 signatures in less than two days.

“Thanks in part to these signatures on this petition, we achieved our goal and the offending signage has been removed. Nova Scotians everywhere, most especially the victims and their families, thank every single one of you for being a change maker and helping to make this happen!” Maughan wrote in an update after the sign was removed on Wednesday.