Toronto officer praised as hero for calm arrest of van suspect
A CANADIAN police officer has been hailed a “hero” for the restraint he showed when he arrested the suspected Toronto van attacker without firing a single shot.
The armed officer remained calm as Alek Minassian, the 25-year-old charged with killing 10 people, appeared to wave a gun and begged to be killed.
Witnesses described a van driver mounting a kerb and swerving to deliberately hit pedestrians before he was apprehended. Footage shows the unnamed officer coming face-to-face with Minassian, who points an object at the officer and shouts: “Kill me.”
“No,” he responds, “get down.” Seconds later, Minassian was in custody.
Mike Mccormack, president of the Toronto Police Association, said the officer was a “hero” and could have justified opening fire.
He said the officer told him: “I just did my job. What I did was no big deal.”
Minassian appeared in court yesterday. He showed little emotion as he was detained on 10 charges of murder and 13 charges of attempted murder.
He posted a “cryptic” Facebook message minutes before the van attack, police said last night. The post referred to the “Supreme Gentleman Elliot Rodger” – the California gunman who killed six people in 2014.