The victim toll from the worst mass shooting in Canadian history has risen to 23 from previously reported 19, federal police said in a statement on Tuesday.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) have said they expected the number of victims to rise as they investigate the 16 crime scenes that were part of the spree of murders, several of which included burnt-out homes.

The gunman, who at one point masqueraded as an RCMP officer and also painstakingly disguised his car to look like a police cruiser, shattered the peace of rural communities in the Atlantic province of Nova Scotia during a 13-hour rampage that started late on Saturday, authorities said on Sunday.

He was shot by police at noon on Sunday.

Reuters