Witnesses describe horrific scenes after deadly Toronto van attack
10 killed and 15 hurt after van mows down crowd in Toronto; man nabbed
TORONTO Witnesses described the horrific scenes after a man drove a white van onto the pavement along one of Toronto's main thoroughfares, spreading carnage and fear through Canada's largest metropolis on Monday. Ten people were killed and 15 were injured.
Police have arrested the driver and said the act was deliberate, but the motive remains unclear.
He has been charged with 10 counts of premeditated murder.
Witnesses said the van struck a man crossing Yonge Street before it jumped the kerb near Mel Lastman Square and sped down the sidewalk at 64kmh, leaving a trail of destruction, reported The New York Times.
Images posted on social media showed bodies lying on a broad tree-lined sidewalk near a pedestrian plaza, and some of them have been covered with blankets.
Mr John Flengas, acting emergency medical services supervisor for Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, said it received seven victims from the scene. He described the scene as "pure carnage" and said there were "victims everywhere".
One witness said the van had mowed down everything in its path - pedestrians, mailboxes, electrical poles, benches and a fire hydrant.
Another, who rushed to help a pedestrian struck while crossing the street, said: "Pieces of the van went flying everywhere."
Mr Reza Hashemi, who owns a video shop on Yonge Street, told the BBC he heard screaming on the other side of the road.
He said the white rental van had repeatedly mounted the pavement and run into people.
Customer service worker Rocco Cignielli said: "I heard screaming, yelling. I turned back and saw this truck going that way.
"He was going in and out, back and forth, zigzagging. He just kept on going."
IN VAIN
Emergency services were on the scene quickly, but in some cases, their efforts were in vain.
"I saw there were people lying on the ground. I saw they were doing heart compression, and I saw two people dying in front of me," the 42-year-old told AFP.
Taxi driver Nana Agyeman Badu saw the van heading south towards central Toronto, where ministers from the G7 world powers were holding a security conference. Then the van swerved onto the pavement.
"I thought maybe he was making a delivery. But then I was thinking, 'Why would he drive on the pedestrian walkway like that?' Very fast. Then I saw he had already run over some people," the 56-year-old said.
"A lady was walking towards a car close to the bus shelter.
"The truck pinged the lady through the bus shelter, and she fell back and all the broken glass fell onto her.
"I stopped and ran out to help her. The truck continued going and going and going."
The driver was taken into custody after a dramatic confrontation with police that was captured on video.
"Shoot me in the head," he yelled before he was detained.
Suspect was quiet, seemed harmless: Ex-classmate
TORONTO The man in the Toronto van attack attended a high school programme for students with special needs.
Former classmate at Thornlea Secondary School, Ms Shereen Chami, said Alek Minassian, 25, was not violent.
She remembers him walking the halls with his hands together and his head down, and making meowing noises.
"He wasn't a social person, but from what I remember, he was harmless," she said.
Police said Minassian was not previously known to them and his motives are still unknown.
The Toronto police officer who refused to shoot the driver was praised for his restraint.
Footage obtained by CBC News 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.
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."
"It is apparent the suspect was trying to be executed. He was looking for suicide-by-cop," said Mr Gary Clement, a retired Royal Canadian Mounted Police superintendent.
The Toronto Police Service declined to name the officer.
- REUTERS
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