Van kills 10, injures 15 on Toronto street
‘He just started hitting everybody,’ says witness
TORONTO – The driver of a rented van that jumped onto a crowded Toronto sidewalk Monday, killing 10 people and injuring 15, drove from the scene but was quickly arrested, Canadian authorities said.
Witnesses said the driver was moving fast and appeared to be acting deliberately, but police said they did not yet know the cause or any possible motive.
Toronto Police Chief Mark Saunders said late Monday that a 10th person had died of injuries from the crash. Fifteen people are reported in the hospital.
Saunders also identified the suspect in custody as Alex Minassian, a 25year-old from the Toronto suburb of Richmond Hill.
Toronto Police Services Deputy Chief Peter Yuen said police were still interviewing witnesses and examining surveillance video of the incident as part of what he called a “complex” investigation.
“I can assure the public all our available resources have been brought in to investigate this tragic situation,” he said.
The incident occurred as Cabinet ministers from the major industrial countries were gathered in Canada to discuss a range of international issues in the run-up to the G7 meeting near Quebec City in June.
Minister of Public Safety Ralph Goodale said that it was too soon to say whether the crash was a case of international terrorism and that the government had not raised its terrorism alert.
A senior national government official later said that authorities had not turned over the investigation to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, a sign that investigators believed it unlikely terrorism was the motive. The official agreed to reveal that information only if not quoted by name.
The driver was heading south on busy Yonge Street around 1:30 p.m. and the streets were crowded with people enjoying an unseasonably warm day when the van jumped onto the sidewalk.
Ali Shaker, who was driving near the van at the time, told Canadian broadcast outlet CP24 that the driver appeared to be moving deliberately through the crowd at more than 30 mph.