The killings that began Saturday night in the rural Nova Scotia community of Portapique and ended the next morning with the death of the gunman at a gas station started with domestic violence when Gabriel Wortman attacked his girlfriend, sources tell Global News.

Investigators believe Wortman and his girlfriend were at a party at a nearby home in the Portapique area when Wortman began arguing with her. They left the party and sources believe Wortman escalated the argument back at his cottage — assaulting her and tying her up. She escaped and hid in the woods.

Wortman left his cottage after the assault and investigators believe that’s when the shootings started. He returned to the house where the party was being held and killed several people there, sources said.

Global News has learned that Wortman had access to multiple guns over the course of the rampage — a rifle, a handgun and a shotgun, sources said. Global News does not yet know how he obtained those guns.

Portapique is a small, rural community on the banks of the Cobequid Bay and the Portapique River and just off Highway 2. RCMP said Wednesday they set up two perimeters in the area but at some point in the evening, learned Wortman had made it past undetected.

Police found Wortman’s girlfriend around 7 a.m. local, sources said. It was from her they learned he was likely dressed as a police officer and driving a fake cruiser. She also provided the picture of the vehicle that was widely distributed. The information changed the way police were searching for Wortman.

Police first tweeted about Wortman at 9:04 a.m. local time Sunday. Less than an hour later they tweeted again warning he may be driving what “appears to be an RCMP vehicle & may be wearing an RCMP uniform.”