Security is elusive in today’s society

There’s a wearying familiarity to these kinds of events, wherever they occur.

Shock. Grief. Anger. Frustration. This time, the carnage was on a Toronto street on a sunny Monday afternoon, in what locals say is a very safe neighbourhood.

For distorted reasons that police are still trying to piece together, an unstable man in a rented van chose to veer onto the sidewalk and plow into pedestrians, killing 10 and injuring more than a dozen others.

Innocent victims, chosen at random. Lives tragically, and meaninglessly, cut down.

Our hearts go out to those who died, those who survived, their families and friends and everyone hurt by this tragedy.

Terrorism doesn’t appear to be a motive. From what’s known of the suspect, it seems more a case of a disturbed man who blamed others for his isolation suddenly lashing out with murderous rage.

The weapon used, a vehicle, has become increasingly common in attacks on pedestrians — the vast majority terrorism-related — around the world in recent years.

For the rest of us, of course, the Toronto attack, regardless of motive, reminds us just how vulnerable we often are as we go about our daily lives.

Yes, we can harden the busiest pedestrian areas in our cities by putting up metal posts as barricades, but clearly not every sidewalk can be protected.

The suspect was not known to police. People who did know him say they didn’t consider him violent.

Like the Halifax shopping centre shooting plan that mercifully was averted, these events elicit a certain feeling of helplessness. They seem, by their nature, unpredictable, the targets random.

Thankfully, there were other familiar reactions arising from Monday’s attack in Toronto: empathy, as bystanders rushed to aid those struck by the van; solidarity, as people placed flowers and held vigils to honour the victims; and wonder, at the humanity and restraint displayed by a Toronto police officer who refused to shoot the suspect — who, it appeared, wanted to die — as he waved his arms at the officer, saying he possessed a gun. He did not.

And resilience — which, these days, people may need more than ever.