By Susannah Cullinane
Tuesday April 24, 2018
Canadian investigators are piecing together information about the man accused of driving a van into multiple pedestrians at a busy Toronto intersection Monday, killing 10 and injuring 15.
Witnesses described the vehicle plowing into people on the sidewalk and driving in the wrong direction down the street in what police say appears to have been a deliberate act.
The suspected driver, Alek Minassian, 25, of Richmond Hill, Ontario, is in custody, Toronto Police Chief Mark Saunders said.
Minassian was arrested in a white rental van less than 30 minutes after police received a 911 call, Saunders said. He is due to appear in court 10 a.m. ET Tuesday.
Asked whether Toronto authorities had previous knowledge of Minassian, Saunders said "there's nothing we have ... on him right now." However a US law enforcement official with knowledge of the matter said Minassian had been known to authorities.
Minassian's alleged motive is not yet clear.
Officials were not calling the incident a terror attack at this stage, Canada's minister of public safety and emergency preparedness Ralph Goodale said. "There would appear to be no national security connection," he said.