Toronto Van Attack, Reported 10 Dead, 15 Wounded
A Van plowing through pedestrians in Toronto has left 10 dead and 15 wounded, according to reports coming out. The Driver is reportedly in custody alive, and the attack is believed to have been deliberate.
CBC Live Feed here
*UPDATE*From CBC:
Ten people are dead and 15 others are injured after a van driver plowed into a number of pedestrians Monday in the Yonge Street and Finch Avenue area of North York in Toronto.
One suspect is in custody.
CBC News has confirmed that Alek Minassian, a 25-year-old Richmond Hill, Ont., man, is the alleged driver in the attack. His LinkedIn profile identifies him as a student at Seneca College.
Government officials briefed on the investigation so far say the suspect is not associated with any organized terrorist group and he does not represent a larger threat to national security.
*ORIGINAL POST BELOW*
CNN:
Nine people are dead and 16 are injured after the driver of a van plowed into multiple pedestrians in Toronto, police said.
The driver of a white van collided with multiple pedestrians on a busy street north of downtown Toronto on Monday, leaving numerous people injured along a trail of destruction stretching up to a mile, officials said.
Canada’s Minister of Public Safety Ralph Goodale said there are some casualties from the collisions, but didn’t offer details.
More CNN on the mile long trail of destruction:
A witness, Raj Irshad, said he saw multiple bodies on the ground.
Irshad works at an Esso gas station about a block from where the van is reported to have driven onto the sidewalk. He said he did not see the initial collision but saw the aftermath. He also saw multiple emergency vehicles in front of his gas station.
One witness told CNN network partner CTV that he was out for a cigarette when he saw the van hit a man walking through the intersection.
“And then, just pandemonium broke loose, just everyone was going crazy,” he said. The vehicle was going 60 to 70 kph, he estimated.
More as this awful story develops…
“Alek Minassian” was the name released by the cops.
He has a LinkedIn.Report
This screenshot is flying around… I don’t know whether it’s real or fake or what. (It could be real… it could also be “humor”…)
But it references Elliot Rodger (the guy who did the 2014 Isla Vista killings).Report
There seems to be confirmation of that.Report
So he’s Armenian? Well, at least, they can probably rule out “radical Islam”.Report
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/toronto-van-attack-driver-profile-alek-minassian-1.4632435
If this video is what it says it is, he seems to be trying VERY hard for suicide by cop.Report
Yeah, but he didn’t have to take 15 innocent people with him. That’s what always galls me about those type of cases. (If it is genuinely a desire for “suicide by cop”)Report
The mental health pros would have to help with this one, but where is the distinction of a true “suicide by cop” and person who perpetrates a heinous act and plans on the responding LE relieving them of having to answer for their actions? To me both morally and practically those are two very different things.Report
Fear points, both… I probably used the term “suicide by cop” far too loosely. I should have said that he was clearly trying to goad the officer into shooting him. Another article indicates he was yelling at the cop to shoot him.Report
Already seeing the comments (facebook, etc.) about how it musta been one of those high capacity assault vans.
Dead is dead, don’t matter how you get there. And as I speak from experience, getting hit by a car at speed may not poke supersonic holes in you, but it shatters bones and organs quite effectively.Report
True, people do die for all sorts of reasons, which makes any one reason uninteresting to think about.Report
I have seen the video and read the accounts of the cop that didn’t shoot this low life. Talk about heroism! So proud of him!Report