Ten deaths and at least 15 injuries have been confirmed by police after a white van plowed through a crowd Monday in Toronto, Canada.
The van reportedly veered off the road, onto the sidewalk, and began hitting pedestrians at around 1:30 p.m., The Star reported. The driver,25-year-old Alek Minassian, was taken into custody after the incident.
Initial estimates suggested eight to 10 people were hit by the van, CTV News reported. At least nine people were reported dead, Toronto police officials confirmed in a press conference hours after the incident, according to The Sun.
“We can confirm for you tonight right now we have 9 people that are dead, 16 that are injured,” Toronto Police Deputy Chief Peter Yuen said in a press conference.
WATCH:
White Van seen plowing into people on #YongeStreet #Toronto injuries everywhere pic.twitter.com/bZFDVdhLz4
— Obelix (@henrimiller100) April 23, 2018
WATCH: Police say the driver of the white van that hit at least 8 people in north Toronto has been arrested https://t.co/CNEuSzw1FT #tictocnews pic.twitter.com/Yj67l7y3AE
— TicToc by Bloomberg (@tictoc) April 23, 2018
In a video released by a witness you can see the alleged driver pull out what appears to be a gun on officers, before they put him in custody, but no shots were fired.
WATCH:
This is insane! @cp24 #toronto #cp24 pic.twitter.com/WyHtTcMbyw
— Warren (@Warren_f23) April 23, 2018
#BREAKING Police arresting driver of white van – video shows driver with a weapon in hand pretending to draw it on police.#torontoattack @CTVNews pic.twitter.com/mCeNFkmk6B
— Peter Akman (@PeterAkman) April 23, 2018
#BREAKING Police arresting driver of white van – video shows driver with a weapon in hand pretending to draw it on police.#torontoattack @CTVNews pic.twitter.com/mCeNFkmk6B
— Peter Akman (@PeterAkman) April 23, 2018
Peter Yuen, Toronto Police Deputy Chief: “We can confirm for you tonight right now we have 9 people that are dead, 16 that are injured.” pic.twitter.com/0HQrWteeqW
— Fox News (@FoxNews) April 23, 2018
Former New York City Police Commissioner Bill Bratton told MSNBC hours after the incident, that his sources in Canada are considering this to be “a terrorist attack.”
Former NYC Police commissioner Bill Bratton states on @MSNBC his sources in Canada say van driver in #Toronto was known to Police and now consider incident a terrorist attack. Motivation and affiliation unknown.
— Malcolm Nance (@MalcolmNance) April 23, 2018
One witness told a reporter that the driver was “wide-eyed, angry and Middle Eastern.” Another witness described the incident as “a terror attack.”
#BREAKING Witness to truck ramming into pedestrians tells local Toronto TV station that the driver looked wide-eyed, angry and Middle Eastern.
— Natasha Fatah (@NatashaFatah) April 23, 2018
Another eye witness to the Yonge and Sheppard incident describes van’s driver as white, intentionally hitting people, describing it as a terror attack.
— Natasha Fatah (@NatashaFatah) April 23, 2018
The van appears to be a Ryder rental truck van, although it is unclear if the suspect rented the truck to commit this crime.
“He started going down on the sidewalk and crumbling down people one by one,” witness Alex Shaker told CTV News. “He just destroyed so many people’s lives,” he continued. “Every single thing that got in his way.”
Shaker saw the van strike a pedestrian pushing a stroller, he told the news organization.
There is no word yet on the exact number of injuries.
(This post will be updated as more information becomes available.)
Follow Henry Rodgers On Twitter
All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.