The driver suspected of killing 10 people and injuring 15 others on Monday when he plowed a rental van into pedestrians in Toronto made his first court appearance yesterday.
While the worst mass killing in Canada in three decades has the hallmarks of other deadly vehicle assaults by Islamic State group supporters in the US and Europe, officials said it did not represent a threat to national security.
Suspect Alex Minassian, 25, was charged by a Toronto court with 10 counts of first degree murder and 13 counts of attempted murder.
Photo: AFP
Authorities had so far not disclosed a possible motive or cause, although “the incident definitely looked deliberate,” Toronto Chief of Police Mark Saunders told reporters at a late-night news conference on Monday.
“We are looking very strongly to what the exact motivation was for this particular incident to take place,” Saunders said. “We need every single piece of this puzzle so we can have a fulsome picture and account as to exactly what took place here.”
“All Canadians stand united with Toronto today,” Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said yesterday in an address outside of parliament in Ottawa.
“We cannot as Canadians choose to live in fear every single day as we go about our daily business. We need to focus on doing what we can and we must to keep Canadians safe while we stay true to the freedoms and values that we all as Canadians hold dear,” Trudeau said.
The prime minister said that, while it would take time before the motives of the attacker were understood, the incident had not changed the nation’s threat level or security preparations for a G7 summit in Quebec in June.
People left flowers at a makeshift memorial, which grew as commuters returned to work yesterday morning. Blank white posters left against a stone wall were covered with messages.
The Canadian flag was lowered to half-staff at parliament and at Toronto City Hall.
Minassian, who was not previously known to authorities, attended a high-school program where one classmate remembered him as “absolutely harmless.”
The officer who apprehended Minassian was praised for making a peaceful arrest, even as the suspect shouted “Kill me” and claimed to have a gun.
Canadians mourned as the victims began to be identified yesterday.
“We are a peaceful, tolerant, free society. The horrific violence on Toronto’s Yonge Street will strengthen rather than undermine these truths,” columnist John Ibbitson wrote in the Globe and Mail newspaper.
Additional reporting by AP
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