The man accused in Toronto’s van attack that killed 10 people and injured 16 others last month appeared in court on Thursday to be charged with three additional counts of attempted murder.
Alek Minassian, 25, was already facing 10 charges of first-degree murder and 13 charges of attempted murder after the rental van he was he allegedly driving mounted the sidewalk and rammed into unsuspecting pedestrians on Toronto’s busy Yonge Street in the North York suburb on April 23.
Police had initially reported 13 injuries, however, further investigation showed that 16 people were injured in the incident.
Eight women and two men, ranging in age from 22 to 94, were killed.
These are the 10 people killed in the van attack. Top row, from left to right: Anne Marie D’Amico, 30, Dorothy Sewell, 80, Renuka Amarasingha, 45, Munir Najjar, 85, Chul Min (Eddie) Kang, 45, Mary Elizabeth (Betty) Forsyth, 94, Sohe Chung, 22, Andrea Bradden, 33, Geraldine Brady, 83, Ji Hun Kim, 22.
Minassian was arrested minutes after police received the first 911 call about a vehicle that had mounted a sidewalk and mowed down pedestrians in the busy suburb of North York.
“This is still a grieving period for the city,” Minassian’s new lawyer Boris Bytensky told reporters outside court. “We have many victims of this offence, there are many families that are grieving for those lives lost. Our thoughts, and the Minassian family’s thoughts, are with them and we’d like to keep the focus on making sure the focus is in the right place.”
Bytensky repeatedly denied that the attack had anything to do with terrorism.
“I don’t think there is anybody who is suggesting that this is terrorism, certainly that’s not a word I would use, there is a lot of people that were terrified, this obviously was a very terrifying incident but there is no terrorism as we usually use that term involved in this case,” Bytensky said.
A man lights a candle at a vigil on Yonge Street in Toronto, Tuesday, April 24, 2018. Ten people were killed and 16 were injured in the deadly attack in which a van struck pedestrians in northern Toronto. (Galit Rodan/THE CANADIAN PRESS)
While Toronto police say they cannot discuss the possible motive for the attack, they say the suspect posted a cryptic message on Facebook prior to the attack.
The post referred to the “Supreme Gentleman Elliot Rodger.” Rodger was the 22-year-old California man responsible for a deadly rampage in Isla Vista, Calif., that left six people dead and a dozen people wounded.
In a video posted ahead of the 2014 attack, Rodger raged about being turned down by women, turning him into an “incel,” or an “involuntarily celibate.”
The “incel rebellion has already begun,” Minassian is alleged to have posted on his Facebook page that has been pulled down.
Minassian has not entered a plea yet, Bytensky said.
“Pleas don’t get entered in Canadian proceedings until much further down the process,” Bytensky said.
Toronto police Const. Ken Lam, far right, is seen confronting the suspect, far left, in the van attack near Yonge Street and Sheppard Avenue West on Apr. 23. The still image is from a video recorded by a passerby. (Submitted by Clark Hua Zhang)
Under Canadian law all individuals charged with first degree murder are automatically detained and it’s too early to discuss whether his client will file a bail application, Bytensky said.
Bytensky said he has had an opportunity to meet with his client and expects to meet with him regularly as police and prosecutors begin disclosing the evidence against Minassian.
However, Bytensky acknowledged that given the complexity of the case, the sheer size of the crime scene, which stretched for nearly a kilometre on Yonge Street, it could be a while until he gets the chance to see the evidence against his client.
“It’s going to take as long as it’s going to take, I have great confidence, we have very responsible crown attorneys assigned to this case, we have responsible and very experienced police officers who are involved in this investigation, I have no doubt that they will discharge their duties responsibly, promptly, efficiently and professionally,” Bytensky said.
Minassian’s next court appearance will be Sept. 14.
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