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Nine dead, 16 hurt by van ploughing over Toronto sidewalk - police


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Nine dead, 16 hurt by van ploughing over Toronto sidewalk - police

By Anna Mehler Paperny and Allison Martell

 

2018-04-23T185207Z_3_LOP000JYKQXI8_RTRMADP_BASEIMAGE-960X540_CANADA-VAN-ROUGH-CUT.JPG

Police in Toronto say they have arrested a man after a white van struck multiple people at a major intersection in the city's northern suburbs on Monday afternoon.

 

TORONTO (Reuters) - A white Ryder rental van killed nine people and injured 16 when its driver ploughed through a busyToronto sidewalk on a sunny Monday afternoon, police said.

 

Toronto Deputy Chief Peter Yuen provided the casualty toll at a news conference.

 

The incident occurred just before 1:30 p.m. (1730 GMT) as large crowds of office workers were on lunch breaks. At least one witness described the driver as appearing to deliberately target victims on his roughly mile-long (1.6 km-long) rampage. The driver was in custody, police said.

 

2018-04-23T205842Z_1_LYNXMPEE3M1Q7_RTROPTP_4_CANADA-VAN.JPG

Firemen cover a victim of an incident where a van struck multiple people at a major intersection in Toronto's northern suburbs, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, April 23, 2018. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri

 

A Reuters witness said there were at least two bodies at the site of the incident. At least seven people were brought to nearby Sunnybrook Health Services Centre's trauma centre, the hospital said on Twitter.

 

It was not immediately clear if the incident was a deliberate act by the driver or a traffic mishap in a mixed commercial and residential area.

 

(Reporting by Anna Mehler Paperny and Allison Martell in Toronto; Additional reporting by Jim Finkle, Nichola Saminather, Carlo Allegri and Julie Gordon; Writing by Andrea Hopkins and Scott Malone; Editing by Grant McCool)

 
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I just saw the live press conference and the police spokesman said they have the suspect in custody, but would give NO details about him.

 

At the same time he announced a hotline for people to call with any information they might have.

 

What the hell is this?  How are people supposed to phone in if they don't know the name of the suspect?  

 

What is going on in Canada?

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Nine dead, 16 hurt by van ploughing over Toronto sidewalk - police

By Anna Mehler Paperny and Allison Martell

 

2018-04-23T201821Z_1_LYNXMPEE3M1OR_RTROPTP_4_CANADA-VAN.JPG

A Toronto police oficer responds to an incident where a van struck multiple people at a major intersection inToronto's northern suburbs in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, April 23, 2018. REUTERS/Chris Donovan

 

TORONTO (Reuters) - A driver ploughed his white Ryder rental van into a crowd, killing nine people and injuring 16 on a busy Toronto sidewalk on a sunny Monday afternoon, police said.

 

Toronto Deputy Chief Peter Yuen announced the casualties at a news conference. He said the driver was in custody.

 

The incident occurred just before 1:30 p.m. (1730 GMT) as large crowds of office workers were on lunch breaks. At least one witness described the driver as appearing to deliberately target victims on his roughly mile-long (1.6 km-long) rampage.

 

A Reuters witness saw at least two tarp-covered bodies at the site of the incident. Five people remained in critical condition at Sunnybrook Health Services Centre on Monday afternoon, the hospital said.

 

It was not immediately clear if the incident was a deliberate act by the driver or a traffic mishap in a mixed commercial and residential area.

 

Canada's public safety minister, Ralph Goodale, declined to comment on what may have motivated the attack.

 

"The investigation is at a stage where no further information can be confirmed at this point," Goodale told a news conference said. "The police are conducting obviously their thorough investigation to determine what happened and why it happened, the motivations involved."

 

Ryder System Inc <R.N> spokeswoman Claudia Panfil confirmed that one of the company's rental vehicles had been involved in the incident and said the company was cooperating with authorities.

 

There have been a string of deadly vehicle attacks in the United States and Europe, including an Oct. 31 attack in New York that killed eight. Islamic State militant group encourages its supporters to use vehicles for attacks.

 

Toronto is hosting a Group of Seven foreign ministers meeting about 30 kms (18 miles) away from the scene of Monday's deaths.

 

The crash occurred at the corner of Yonge Street and Finch Avenue in the north end of the city, said Toronto Police spokeswoman Meaghan Gray.

 

A man who gave his name as Ali told CNN he saw the van and that the driver appeared to have been targeting people.

 

"This person was intentionally doing this, he was killing everybody," the man said. "He kept going, he kept going. People were getting hit, one after another."

 

He said a number of the victims were older people and at one point he saw a stroller fly into the air.

 

At least one person was struck outside on the sidewalk outside an Anglican church, north of where the van came to rest in front of a currency exchange in a condominium tower.

 

Yonge Street is large, divided boulevard at the point where the incident occurred, its centre meridian dotted with planter boxes and sculptures.

 

Some of the victims were struck in a public square popular with office workers on lunch breaks. Aerial photos of the scene posted on social media showed a food truck parked just a few feet away from where emergency workers busily transferred people onto stretchers.

 

There was no noticeable change in security around the Intercontinental Hotel where the ministers of Canada, the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan were meeting on Monday.

 

(Reporting by Anna Mehler Paperny and Allison Martell in Toronto; Additional reporting by Jim Finkle, Nichola Saminather, Carlo Allegri and Julie Gordon; Writing by Andrea Hopkins and Scott Malone; Editing by Grant McCool)

 
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1 minute ago, Jingthing said:

That is weird. 

Such incidents are often "fog of war" like in the earlier stages of reporting on them.

I reckon before long we'll know a lot more.

 

If they have the guy in custody they must know his name!

 

Are we being too politically correct here?

 

Also, did this occur in the China town area of Toronto?  I think that is more West, but I can't remember.

 

 

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1 hour ago, Watchful said:

If they have the guy in custody they must know his name!

 

Are we being too politically correct here?

 

Also, did this occur in the China town area of Toronto?  I think that is more West, but I can't remember.

 

 

As usual members expect immediate info, PC blah, blah; just wait a while....

 

Currently not identified as Islamist terrorism.

 

Alek Minassian

https://heavy.com/news/2018/04/alek-minassian-driver-van-hit-pedestrians-toronto-canada/

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Suspects in Toronto van attack identified - CBC TV

 

TORONTO (Reuters) - The suspect in the Toronto van attack that killed nine people and injured 16 others is a 25-year-old man named Alek Minassian, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation said on Monday.

 

CBC TV did not cite sources. A driver in a white van ploughed into a crowd in north Toronto, according to police and hospital officials. The driver was in custody, police said.

 

(Reporting by Nichola Saminather; Editing by Sandra Maler)

 
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The chap appears meet some of the criteria for mental illness;

- 7 years as a student at a community college

- Software applications developer 

- when he finally crashes out, he behaves erratically waving an object at a police officer demanding that  the police officer shoot him in the head, aka "Suicide by cop"

- Known to police.

 

There is a G7 Foreign Ministers meeting going on in Toronto.

I will be surprised if he is a jihadist. He's of Armenian heritage, and likely to be Armenian Apostolic Christian if anything.  I am expecting that he will be  another nutter answering the voices in his head. 

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Sometimes I wish I was Canadian. The suspect was purposely trying to get shot (death by cop). Looks like a Glock in the video, maybe not to the firrst reponders.

Excellent policing and stunning bravery by the Mounties. US cops shoot people all the time for far less threat, the guy already committed multiple homicide.

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Ten now dead, 15 injured after van plows into Toronto crowd

 

2018-04-24T011939Z_1_LYNXMPEE3N03G_RTROPTP_4_CANADA-VAN.JPG

Fire fighters stand near a covered body after a van struck multiple people at a major intersection northern Toronto, Ontario, Canada, April 23, 2018. REUTERS/Saul Porto

 

TORONTO (Reuters) - Ten people were killed and another 15 are injured after a 25-year-old man appeared to deliberately mow down pedestrians in north Toronto, the city's police chief said on Monday.

 

Mark Saunders said the suspect in the incident, Alek Minassian, was not known to police and his motives were still unknown.

 

(Reporting by David Ljunggren; Editing by Sandra Maler)

 
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30 minutes ago, ChiangMaiLightning2143 said:

Sometimes I wish I was Canadian. The suspect was purposely trying to get shot (death by cop). Looks like a Glock in the video, maybe not to the firrst reponders.

Excellent policing and stunning bravery by the Mounties. US cops shoot people all the time for far less threat, the guy already committed multiple homicide.

Ba..ard should have been shot. Same for the Government who allowed into the country.

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36 minutes ago, ChiangMaiLightning2143 said:

Sometimes I wish I was Canadian. The suspect was purposely trying to get shot (death by cop). Looks like a Glock in the video, maybe not to the firrst reponders.

Excellent policing and stunning bravery by the Mounties. US cops shoot people all the time for far less threat, the guy already committed multiple homicide.

Not a Mountie. Stupid City Cop should have shot.

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Toronto police officer draws praise for refusing to shoot van suspect

By Matt Scuffham

 

2018-04-24T012209Z_1_LYNXMPEE3N03Q_RTROPTP_4_CANADA-VAN.JPG

A witness is pictured at the scene of an incident where a van struck multiple people on Yonge Street in Toronto, Ontario, Canada April 23, 2018. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri

 

TORONTO (Reuters) - A Toronto police officer who refused to shoot the man suspected of plowing a van into crowds of pedestrians on Monday, killing 10 people, was praised for restraint in the face of a suspect who claimed to have a gun.

 

Video footage showed the police officer staring down the suspect at gunpoint in the middle of a street, while the man pointed what appeared to be a gun and shouted "Kill me." The video, obtained by CBC News, showed the suspect repeatedly pulling an object from his side and aiming at police.

 

The arrest was praised as a welcome example of police restraint in the midst of chaos, coming just minutes after a white rental van plowed into a lunchtime crowd in north Toronto, killing 10 people and injuring 15 in one of the most violent incidents in Canadian history.

 

As the suspect shouted "Kill me," the officer replied, "No, get down." When the suspect said, "I have a gun in my pocket," the officer responded: "I don't care. Get down."

 

Toronto police identified the man arrested as Alek Minassian, 25, of Richmond Hill, a neighbourhood close to Toronto.

 

"It's quite apparent that the suspect was trying to be executed. He was really looking for 'suicide-by-cop,'" Gary Clement, a retired Royal Canadian Mounted Police superintendent with 34 years experience of policing, told Reuters.

 

The Toronto Police Service declined to name the officer involved in the stand-off, but Clement said he appeared to be a "very seasoned and mature officer."

 

"I would say this individual met the right police officer," Clement said. "Nobody knows how they're going to react. In this situation a lot of it comes down to muscle memory. This guy reacted in a very mature manner."

 

Toronto Police Chief Mark Saunders said the officer's behaviour reflected the "high caliber of training that takes place.

"They are taught to use as little force as possible in any given situation," he said.

 

It helped that the officer had a clear view of the suspect, who was out of the van and pacing between the sidewalk and the arresting officer, Clement said.

 

The non-violent end to the standoff won plaudits on social media.

 

"Wow, at how these Canadian cops brought in this suspected killer," said Twitter user Stuart A. Thompson in a posting.

 

Police in the United States have been criticized for being too quick to pull the trigger after a series of high-profile police shootings and deaths of suspects during arrest.

 

Witnesses in Toronto expressed horror at the murders.

 

Young Lee, a 56-year-old attorney, looked out his third-floor office window on Yonge Street and was shocked to see medics attempting to resuscitate two of the victims.

 

"I've never seen violence like this here in Toronto," Lee said. "I felt a mix of rage and a lot of sympathy for the victims."

 

(Reporting by Matt Scuffham; Editing by Leslie Adler)

 
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4 hours ago, Watchful said:

I just saw the live press conference and the police spokesman said they have the suspect in custody, but would give NO details about him.

 

At the same time he announced a hotline for people to call with any information they might have.

 

What the hell is this?  How are people supposed to phone in if they don't know the name of the suspect?  

 

What is going on in Canada?

"What is going on in Canada?" Toronto is my home city. There are nutters everywhere. We don't have many but now and then we do. What stands out here (besides 10 lives needlessly taken, yes, it is now 10) is the single cop take-down of the driver, no shots fired! Compare that to the record of our big neighbour to the south where they shoot first, ask later (or/and bend the truth). "What is going on" is this incident should showcase good police work to the rest of the world (especially our neighbour).

Condolences to the many affected by this nutter.

 

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9 hours ago, neeray said:

"What is going on in Canada?" Toronto is my home city. There are nutters everywhere. We don't have many but now and then we do. What stands out here (besides 10 lives needlessly taken, yes, it is now 10) is the single cop take-down of the driver, no shots fired! Compare that to the record of our big neighbour to the south where they shoot first, ask later (or/and bend the truth). "What is going on" is this incident should showcase good police work to the rest of the world (especially our neighbour).

Condolences to the many affected by this nutter.

 

 

Um, did you see the video of the cop and suspect?  If I was the cop and the dude was pointing at me, I would have shot him.  NOT to kill, but to put him down. The cop could have become the 11th victim!

 

The other really strange thing was asking for information, but not identifying the suspect's name!  What was the point of that?

 

I mean are they asking for people to phone in any rumors they hear?

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Just now, Watchful said:

 

Um, did you see the video of the cop and suspect.  If I was the cop and the dude was pointing at me, I would have shot him.  NOT to kill, but to put him down. The cop could have become the 11th victim!

I watched that video many times. The cop came out from behind the protection of his car only when he was satisfied that the suspect was holding a cell phone, not a gun. Cops are trained to kill, not to maim. Maiming means leaving the suspect capable of doing more harm.

And in answer to another member, our cops are not directed by our PM.

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 At least one witness described the driver as appearing to deliberately target victims on his roughly mile-long (1.6 km-long) rampage

 

   Repeated like school shootings. How can anybody do that and kill innocent people on a 1.6 km long rampage.

 

   RIP, and a speedy recovery for the injured ones. he didn't get enough love from mom and changed his aeeh...let's see. 

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I'm just wondering that nobody's even assuming that it was a Muslim terror attack done by somebody who was brainwashed. 

 

   But hey, it could also be that he only forgot to take his medication . 

 

    Rest in peace and a speedy recovery for the injured ones. 

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4 hours ago, simple1 said:

As usual members expect immediate info, PC blah, blah; just wait a while....

 

Currently not identified as Islamist terrorism.

 

Alek Minassian

https://heavy.com/news/2018/04/alek-minassian-driver-van-hit-pedestrians-toronto-canada/

 

I wonder what's the next step in prevention  of such attacks?

 

Is banning cars next or will there be some kind of "right to enter a certain area" passport stamp be  in the future?

 

People who want to express their  agenda  with violence have an array of options and it's impossible to  prevent  them from using all  those options.   

 

This is just another  strike against society which will ultimately result in some erosion of  liberties throughout much of the Western/developed  World.

 

Prior to 9/11 i remember when it  was possible to go to the  boarding ramp with friends and relatives in the airport.   That period is  only going to go down in history as to how it used to be.

 

Another blow against society.

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