A man who found his brother dead during the 2020 mass shooting in Nova Scotia has died by suicide after struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder for years.
Clinton Ellison’s suicide in Fredericton on May 19 was confirmed by his stepfather Wayne Smith.
Smith says Ellison was traumatized by the shooting that claimed the lives of 22 people in 2020, adding that his stepson’s mental health got progressively worse.
Ellison and his brother Corrie Ellison were in Portapique, N.S., visiting their father on April 18, 2020, when they heard a gunshot and saw flames from one of the homes the gunman had set on fire.
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Corrie Ellison went outside to see what was going on and was fatally shot by the gunman.
Clinton Ellison went looking for his brother a short time later and found his body by the road.
He ran into the woods where he hid for several hours until police found him.
If you or someone you know is thinking about suicide, support is available 24/7 by calling or texting 988, Canada’s national suicide prevention hotline.
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