Alek Minassian was a member of the forces from Aug. 23, 2017 until Oct. 25

Officials say the man accused in a van attack that left 10 people dead in Toronto on Monday was a member of the Canadian Armed Forces for two months last year.

A spokeswoman with the Department of National Defence says Alek Minassian was a member of the forces from Aug. 23, 2017 until Oct. 25.

She says Minassian did not complete his recruit training and asked to be voluntarily released after 16 days.

The 25-year-old from Richmond Hill, Ont., was charged on Tuesday with 10 counts of first-degree murder and 13 counts of attempted murder.

Ten people were killed and 15 people injured after a van mounted a sidewalk in north Toronto on Monday afternoon.

More to come.

Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.</s>Alek Minassian was a member of the forces from Aug. 23, 2017 until Oct. 25

Officials say the man accused in a van attack that left 10 people dead in Toronto on Monday was a member of the Canadian Armed Forces for two months last year.

A spokeswoman with the Department of National Defence says Alek Minassian was a member of the forces from Aug. 23, 2017 until Oct. 25.

She says Minassian did not complete his recruit training and asked to be voluntarily released after 16 days.

The 25-year-old from Richmond Hill, Ont., was charged on Tuesday with 10 counts of first-degree murder and 13 counts of attempted murder.

Ten people were killed and 15 people injured after a van mounted a sidewalk in north Toronto on Monday afternoon.

More to come.

Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.</s>Federal Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan has confirmed that last year Toronto van attack suspect, Alek Minassian, was in military recruit training for 16 days.

Minassian then left by voluntary release – meaning he chose not to continue training.

A statement from the Department of National Defence says Minassian was a member of the forces from Aug. 23, 2017 to Oct. 25, 2017.

The 25-year-old from Richmond Hill, Ont., was charged on Tuesday with 10 counts of first-degree murder and 13 counts of attempted murder.

Ten people were killed and 15 people injured after a van mounted a sidewalk in north Toronto on Monday afternoon.

Minassian had attended Thornlea Secondary School in Richmond Hill, graduating in 2011, according to school officials, who declined to provide further details.

A LinkedIn page with Minassian’s name and photograph lists him as a student at Seneca College from 2011 to this year.

The area surrounding Minassian’s Richmond Hill, Ont., home, just 20 minutes north of where the van incident took place, was cordoned off with police tape on Tuesday morning, with officers entering the home a few times to speak to someone inside.

The few neighbours that were around said they didn’t know the family well, but had noticed that its members kept to themselves.</s>Alek Minassian was a member of the forces from Aug. 23, 2017 until Oct. 25

Officials say the man accused in a van attack that left 10 people dead in Toronto on Monday was a member of the Canadian Armed Forces for two months last year.

A spokeswoman with the Department of National Defence says Alek Minassian was a member of the forces from Aug. 23, 2017 until Oct. 25.

She says Minassian did not complete his recruit training and asked to be voluntarily released after 16 days.

The 25-year-old from Richmond Hill, Ont., was charged on Tuesday with 10 counts of first-degree murder and 13 counts of attempted murder.

Ten people were killed and 15 people injured after a van mounted a sidewalk in north Toronto on Monday afternoon.

More to come.

Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.</s>Dorothy Sewell, 80, was one of ten people tragically killed in the Toronto van attack on Monday. She was a mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother.

Sewell was confirmed dead by her grandson, Elwood Delaney. Speaking to CBC Toronto, Delaney said, “She was the foundation for all things sports here in our family, that’s for sure… She loved her Maple Leafs, she loved her Blue Jays. I don’t think she ever missed a Blue Jays game.”

Elwood explains that his grandmother volunteered helping other seniors, and worked at Sears for a number of years, as well. “She was the best grandma anyone could ever ask for,” he says.

On Tuesday, Elwood took to Facebook to write, “Alek Minassian you are very lucky you are in a jail on the other side of the country, cause If I was there you would be in the ground. Thanks to you I had to tell my 3 children and my wife that cause of you they will no longer get to talk to Nan on there birthdays or Christmas. I love you Dorothy Sewell. You will always be loved and your love for sports will always be with me while I cheer with you. Go Toronto Go. Love you Nan.”

Another man, Stephen Chadderton, writes that he was friends with Dorothy’s deceased son Todd, took to social media to mourn the loss. He posted on Facebook, “she was part of our family…taken by that loser… This morning I was shocked to find out that the Mom of my brother from another mother, the deceased Todd Sewell, DOROTHY SEWELL, was one of the 10 victims of the horrible tragedy in North York yesterday. In our many years as friends Dorothy volunteered with North York Football tirelessly. She was very active, young senior, bowling, Volunteering at her church, lawn bowling, cheering tirelessly for her Maple Leafs, Argos, and attending all the Figure Skating Competitions. Full of life, loving life. Dorothy you will be so missed, by so many. You never forgot a birthday, anniversary or Christmas Card. Our Family loved you to death We will miss you! I hope you and Todd are together now!”

Alek Minassian, 25, who carried out the attack, was charged with 10 counts of first-degree murder and 13 counts of attempted murder. While police are busy identifying victims, they have also spoken to those who knew Minassian. Many have described him as someone who “kept to himself.” Joseph Pham, who took classes with Minassian at Seneca College, told The Star that Joseph was “socially awkward” and “didn’t really talk to anyone.”

This post will be updated with more information as it becomes available.</s>Police have identified Alek Minassian, 25, a resident of Richmond Hill, Ont. as the suspect of the deadly van attack in Toronto which killed ten people and injured at least 15 others.

The rented white Ryder van climbed on a sidewalk curb and drove into pedestrians in north Toronto’s busy Yonge Street as many people typically were out having lunch. The path of the deadly van attack stretched for nearly one kilometre. The police arrested him after he’d left his vehicle, attempted to flee the scene and was briefly confronted by police.

Here is everything we know:

Van attacker appeared to want police to shoot him

He pointed what appeared to be a gun in his hand. Despite numerous threats from the suspect warning that he had a gun in his pocket and aiming a dark object at the officer, the police officer who confronted him didn’t fire his sidearm, which was praised by law enforcement and people following the story.

A tow truck driver who witnessed the confrontation told CityNews that the officer repeatedly told the suspect to “drop it” while the suspect responding by yelling, “kill me.” Eventually, the suspect dropped the object and laid down on the sidewalk. He was quickly was taken into handcuffs and arrested.

The motive for the attack isn’t known at this time but did appear to be deliberate.

Minassian appeared in a North York court Tuesday morning and was charged with 10 counts of first-degree murder and 13 counts of attempted murder. Toronto Police Chief Mark Saunders said that it was still too early to suggest a motive but told reporters that, “the city is safe.”

Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale told reporters that the events were “horrendous”, there was no threat to national security, on Monday night. Prime Minister Trudeau echoed those same sentiments while responding to reporters Monday morning.

On Monday night, Toronto Police had begun investigating the home of the alleged van attacker in Richmond Hill, Ont.

A LinkedIn profile identified Minassian as a Seneca College student from 2011 to 2018, which was relatively close to where the attack took place. The social networking site also described him as focused on computer science.

On the Google Play Store, an app designed to help people find parking spots in the Toronto area has Minassian listed as its developer.

He was described as socially awkward and possibly suffering from a mental or social disability by three of his former classmates, The Globe and Mail reported. He was also never seen as someone with any violent tendencies or religious or political affiliations or strong views on anything.

NBC News reported that Minassian had allegedly researched and spoke online about the 2014 Isla Vista massacre in California, where 22-year-old Elliot Rodger killed six people and injured 14 others.

One of the victims identified as Anne Marie D’Amico

While police have been asking the public for help in identifying victims, City News is reporting that Anne Marie D’Amico, an Invesco employee at a U.S.-based investment management firm was one of the victims.

She was one of the people taken to Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre but pronounced dead in hospital.

D’Amico had worked with Tennis Canada and the Badminton and Racquet Club of Toronto which posted tributes for her. A GoFundMe page had been set up for all of the victims and has raised over $15,000 by Tuesday morning.

More to come.
• Toronto van attack witnesses recall the horror: ‘Hit and go, hit and go. It didn’t stop’</s>Twenty-five-year-old Alek Minassian is allegedly responsible for an attack in north Toronto that killed 10 people and injured 15 others, police said Monday.

Minassian lived in Richmond Hill, Ont., a suburb north of the city, Toronto Police Chief Mark Saunders told reporters at a press conference. He was arrested 26 minutes after police received the first 911 call about pedestrians being mowed down by a van, Saunders said.

Video obtained by Storyful appears to show Minassian pointing something at police and asking to be shot.

'Shoot me in the head'

In the footage, a man can be seen pointing an object at a police officer, who yells, "Get down!"

"I have a gun in my pocket," the man appears to say.

"I don't care ... Get down or you'll be shot," the officer responds.

"Shoot me in the head," the man says.

Saunders praised the officer for arresting Minassian without incident.

"The officers here are taught to use as little force as possible in any given situation," Saunders said. ​​​​"The officer did a fantastic job ... and had a peaceful resolution at the end of the day."

Saunders said there was nothing to indicate that Minassian actually had a gun. He was not known to police.

Saunders wouldn't call the attack terrorism but also said that investigators were not ruling it out. Minassian ran down pedestrians on purpose, Saunders said.

"It's very clear from a general perspective that the actions were deliberate."

Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale called the attack horrendous, and said it was not related to national security. He previously said there is no information indicating that the Canada's terrorism threat level should be raised.

With files from The Canadian Press</s>The suspected driver of a van which ploughed into pedestrians in Canada, leaving 10 people dead and injuring 15 others, has been charged with 10 counts of murder and 13 counts of attempted murder.

Alek Minassian appeared in a Toronto courtroom on Tuesday where he was charged.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has dismissed the possibility of terrorism, saying that authorities see no national security element in what happened.

Moreover, the case has not been turned over to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, a sign that investigators believe that it is unlikely that terrorism was the motive.

However, no other motives or causes have been disclosed by authorities, although the city's police chief said the "incident definitely looked deliberate".

Minassian, 25, who lives in the Toronto suburb of Richmond Hill, had not been known to police previously.

An online social media profile described him as a college student.

Following the rental van incident at around 1.30pm local time (6.30pm BST) on Monday, the driver attempted to flee the scene but was arrested shortly afterwards by police.

Witnesses at the scene said the van was moving fast and appeared to be deliberately trying to hit people.

The incident occurred as Cabinet ministers from the major industrial countries were gathered in Canada to discuss a range of international issues in the run-up to the G7 meeting near Quebec City in June.</s>Little appears to be known about the man now facing 10 charges of first-degree murder and 13 counts of attempted murder after a van drove into pedestrians on Yonge Street in Toronto’s north end.

Alek Minassian, 25, made a brief court appearance in a Toronto courtroom Tuesday morning to hear the charges against him. He appeared to understand what was happening and spoke softly to the duty counsel lawyer representing him.

Police have said Minassian was not known to them before this incident and he has no criminal record. He also appears to have little social media presence.

A LinkedIn page lists the Richmond Hill, Ont., resident as a student at Seneca College in Toronto, enrolled between 2011 and 2018.

He is also listed as a research assistant in a software development project on a Seneca website.

Toronto police are now conducting a search of the Richmond Hill home where he lived.

One neighbour told CTV News that his daughter had gone to the same high school as Minassian and said that he had had problems and needed “a special teacher.”

Minassian was arrested after a brief standoff with a lone police officer, not far from where a van killed 10 people. Toronto Police Chief Mark Saunders told reporters Monday night that, while the man they arrested insisted he had a gun, no gun was found.

Saunders said it was too early to suggest a motive for the incident, which he said “looks intentional.”

“We have to look at whether he was working in concert with anyone else,” Saunders said.

"…We are looking very strongly to what the exact motivation was for this particular incident to take place," he said.

"At the end of the day, we will have a fulsome answer, and we will have a fulsome account as to what the conclusion of this is."

Both Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale said Tuesday that the investigation is underway and there has been no evidence to suggest the attack was related to terrorism.

"The events that took place ... in Toronto were a senseless attack and a horrific tragedy," Trudeau told parliamentary reporters in Ottawa, extending the government's condolences to the victims and their families.

Goodale, speaking in Toronto, said the investigation underway is still in its early hours, “but thus far there is no discernible connection to national security in the incident last evening.”</s>A video from the scene of Alek Minassian’s arrest appears to show him threaten a police officer with what may be a gun after he allegedly killed 10 pedestrians with a white van on April 23. Watch the shocking video here.

Alek Minassian, 25, indulged in a majorly intense standoff with police before he was arrested as a suspect in the Toronto van attack on April 23. Footage obtained by CTV shows an officer coming face-to-face with Alek just in front of the white van that he used to allegedly commit the horrific attack. The face-off between officer and suspect goes on for at least a minute before Alek is finally pinned to the ground and handcuffed. Before that, though, he is seen waving an unidentified object at the officer, who warns the suspect, “Get down or you’ll get shot!” several times.

Officials have not identified what the object in Alek’s hand was, but Toronto Police Chief, Mark Saunders, confirmed that there is “nothing that indicates” that the suspect had a gun. The officer who came face-to-face with Alek, and eventually arrested him, has been praised for remaining calm and not shooting at the suspect. “I can tell you it’s directly related to the high caliber training that takes place,” Chief Saunders said. “The officers here are taught to use as little forces as possible in any given situation. Through the training, the officer did a fantastic job with respect to his ability to understanding the circumstance and the environment and having a peaceful resolution at the end of the day.”

Ten are dead and 15 are left injured after the white rental van plowed down a group of innocent pedestrians on Yonge Street in Toronto. The van was reportedly traveling between 60-70 mph during the horrific collision, and police have confirmed that they believe the act to be “deliberate.”
Alek Minassian appears in court in Toronto charged with ten murders and thirteen attempted murders.