OTTAWA — Canada on Sunday was reeling from what is believed to be the country’s worst mass shooting in which at least 17 people were killed.

The shooter disguised as a police officer went on a 12-hour rampage across the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, killing at least 16 people, including a female cop.

Several bodies were found inside and outside one home in the small, rural town of Portapique, about 90 km north of Halifax — which police called the first scene. Bodies were also found at other locations.

Police identified the man believed to be the shooter as Gabriel Wortman, 51, who was thought to live part-time in Portapique.

Police first announced that they had arrested Wortman at a gas station in Enfield, outside Halifax, but later said he had died. It was not clear how, and they did not explain further.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau described the attack as "a terrible situation", and Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil told reporters this was "one of the most senseless acts of violence in our province's history".

Mass shootings are relatively rare in Canada. The country overhauled its gun-control laws after gunman Marc Lepine killed 14 women and himself at Montreal's Ecole Polytechnique college in 1989. Before this weekend's rampage, that had been the country's worst.

It is now illegal to possess an unregistered handgun or any kind of rapid-fire weapon in Canada. The country also requires training, a personal risk assessment, two references, spousal notification and criminal record checks to purchase a weapon. — Agencies