LATEST UPDATES:
- The number of injured victims dropped to 14. It was originally miscounted as 15 yesterday.
- No victims have been confirmed but police have notified some of the families they "believe" to have died in the attack.
- CTV News confirmed that Yonge Street attack suspect Alek Minassian was a member of the Canadian Armed Forces from August 23, 2017 until October 25, 2017. Minassian did not complete his recruit training and requested to be voluntarily released after 16 days of recruit training.
- Alek Minassian has been charged with 10 counts of first degree murder; and 13 counts of attempted murder.
Ten people are dead and 15 more are injured after a driver of a white van plowed into multiple pedestrians on a 3-km stretch of Yonge Street between Sheppard Avenue and Finch Avenue on Monday afternoon.
On April 23, at 1:30 p.m. the Toronto Police Service (TPS) responded to multiple calls about a rogue driver and injuries in the area.
Toronto police Deputy Chief Peter Yuen later confirmed that the driver had mounted the curb and struck several pedestrians in different areas along Yonge Street before TPS was able to apprehend the driver and seize the vehicle.
“We located that vehicle. The driver is in custody right now and he is being investigated in the events that took place this afternoon,” Yuen said. “I want to offer my condolences to the families and the victims of this tragic event that took place. We can confirm with you that we have nine people that are dead, 16 that are injured.”
Following the press conference on Monday at 4:30 p.m., it was reported that the death toll has been revised to 10 dead and 15 injured. Alek Minassian, 25, of Richmond Hill was taken into police custody. Today Minassian was charged with 10 counts of first degree murder, and 13 counts of attempted murder.
CTV News reported today that the van attack suspect was breifly in the Canadian military, between late August and October, 2017. Alek Minassian did not complete his recruit training because he requested to be released after 16 days.
Yuen said TPS has mobilized all available resources during the investigation.
“Toronto Police Service will be here for a number of days, to shut down a busy stretch of Toronto, which is what is required. This is going to be a long investigation. We have multiple witnesses, we have a lot of surveillance cameras. There were a lot of pedestrians out, a lot of witnesses out enjoying the sunny afternoon. We are urging anyone who saw anything to contact police,” Yuen said.
Toronto Police have set up two hotlines. Anyone missing a friend or family member who may have been a victim in Monday’s attack can call 416-808-8085. Witnesses who have any information on the events of the tragedy have been asked to call the investigative hotline at 416-808-8750.
A web portal has been opened for anyone who is able to submit photos or videos of the incident, please click here.
Check out what's open and closed around Yonge and Finch following horrific act of violence.
Mayor John Tory was also on hand yesterday to share his condolences with the City of Toronto and has asked the public to stay clear of the area in the next couple of days.
“There will be several days of disruption going on … I hope people will be considerate of that and understand that there will be disruption to traffic and to business in this area of the city," Tory said.
Yesterday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tweeted his condolences about the incident at Yonge and Finch.
Our thoughts are with all those affected by the terrible incident at Yonge and Finch in Toronto. Thank you to the first responders working at the scene – we're monitoring the situation closely.
— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) April 23, 2018
