'He was a changed person': Clinton Ellison, survivor of Portapique mass shooting, dies

'He was a changed person': Clinton Ellison, survivor of Portapique mass shooting, dies

Ellison's family says his mental health never recovered after witnessing the tragedy

Clinton Ellison, survivor of N.S. mass shooting, dies

Warning: This story references suicide.

A survivor of the 2020 Nova Scotia mass shooting who never recovered from the trauma has died by suicide.

Clinton Ellison witnessed some of the tragic events of April 18-19, 2020, when a gunman disguised as an RCMP officer killed 22 people.

What Ellison saw and heard that night as he hid from the perpetrator in the woods of Portapique, N.S., never left him.

"He was suffering from severe PTSD and trauma from what happened, and he was a changed person after that," said his father, Richard Ellison.

Clinton Ellison, 52, was found dead in a vehicle parked outside a drugstore in Fredericton on May 19. His father told CBC News that Clinton took his own life.

Clinton’s brother, Corrie, died in the mass killings.

Clinton and Corrie had been visiting their father in Portapique that weekend when they heard a single gunshot. They looked outside and saw a glow in the sky from a nearby fire.

Despite his father asking him to stay, Corrie decided to go outside and find out what was going on.

Eventually, Clinton went out in search of Corrie. He discovered his brother’s body on the side of the road, and, fearing for his own life, bolted into the woods, where he hid for four hours as gunshots and explosions from fires rang out around him.

In an interview with CBC News just days after the events of that night, he described it as a "nightmare through hell."

"I’ll be traumatized for the rest of my life. I’m having a really hard time with it," he told a CBC reporter. "It’s going to scar me for life."

Despite the trauma he was experiencing, Clinton said in the interview, "My heart goes out to everybody involved in this. Help people. That’s my message today — help people."

Family members say although Clinton received help to cope with the trauma, it ultimately wasn’t enough.

Wayne Smith, his stepfather, said Clinton was paranoid, "high-strung" and "in a bad way" mentally.

"As time went on and everything coming at him all the time, it just got worse and worse. It just brewed more and more and more," Smith said.

It is unclear exactly what support was made available to Clinton. But Smith said after any tragedy like the 2020 mass killings, more mental health care should be offered.

Clinton Ellison is not the only survivor of the Nova Scotia mass casualty to die after struggling with his mental health.

In 2022, Leon Joudrey died just weeks after speaking with the Mass Casualty Commission about his own mental health struggles and how hard it was to navigate the mental health system.

The commission's final report highlighted gaps in mental health support in the wake of the tragedy, calling it a "public health emergency."

Richard Ellison, who has now lost two sons, said he's taking things day by day.

"I'm holding in there the best I can."

If you or someone you know is struggling, here’s where to look for help:

This guide from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health outlines how to talk about suicide with someone you're worried about.

Frances Willick is a journalist with CBC Nova Scotia. Please contact her with feedback, story ideas or tips at frances.willick@cbc.ca