Terrorism suspected in Canada attacks

EDMONTON, Alberta — A car and knife attack on a police officer outside a football game was the work of a single suspected terrorist, a Somali refugee who was known to police, Canadian authorities said Sunday.

Four other people were later injured when they were hit by a U-Haul truck driven by the same suspect, officials said.

Marlin Degrand, assistant commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, said officers took a 30-year-old man into custody in the Western Canadian city of Edmonton, Alberta.

Police declined to identify the man because he had not yet been charged, saying the pending charges included terrorism and five counts of attempted murder.

A Canadian government official identified the suspect as Abdulahi Hasan Sharif. The official agreed to reveal the name only if he was not quoted by name because he was not authorized to speak publicly ahead of the police announcement.

Edmonton Police Chief Rod Knecht said an Islamic State flag was found in the car that hit the officer, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called it a terror attack.

The suspect was known to both Edmonton police and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Degrand said the suspect was flagged in 2015 for extremist ideologies and that police interviewed him at the time, but he said charges were not warranted after an “exhaustive investigation.”

“To the best of our knowledge, this was a lone wolf attack,” Edmonton Mayor Don Iveson said.

The incident took place outside a Canadian Football League game at Edmonton’s Commonwealth Stadium on Saturday night.

Police released video showing a white Chevrolet Malibu ramming into a police officer standing in front of his cruiser. The officer is sent flying in the air while the Malibu crashes into the police car. The driver then gets out and appears to stab the officer, who wrestles the suspect to the ground and then rises as the suspect flees on foot.

The Edmonton police chief said Constable Mike Chernyk was released from the hospital overnight with stab wounds on his face and head and abrasions on his arms.

Less than four hours later, just before midnight, a U-Haul truck was pulled over about 4 miles away. An officer recognized that the driver’s name was similar to that of the registered owner of the Chevrolet Malibu, police said. The man immediately drove away, leading officers on a chase toward downtown Edmonton as he deliberately hit pedestrians on the way, police said.

The chase ended after the truck flipped over and landed on its side.

A witness, Austin Elgie, a manager of a bar in the downtown area, said the van “peeled” into an alley where people were smoking and struck a customer.

“There were like 10 cop cars following him. … It was crazy,” Elgie said. “It just came around the corner, ripping. I thought at first he was pulling over for the cops coming by, but he was clearly the one they were chasing.”

“Police officers put themselves at great personal risk every single day on our behalf, and this attack is a stark reminder of the sacrifices they make for the public good,” Trudeau said in a statement Sunday. “While the investigation continues, early reports indicate that this is another example of the hate that we must remain ever vigilant against. … We cannot — and will not — let violent extremism take root in our communities.”

The White House condemned the attack and said U.S. law enforcement officials were in touch with Canadian authorities to offer assistance.

Information for this article was contributed by Kristine Phillips, Avi Selk, Carol Morello and Mark Berman of The Washington Post and Rob Gillies of The Associated Press.