Nine people are dead and 16 are injured after the driver of a van plowed into multiple pedestrians in Toronto on Monday, Acting Police Chief Peter Yuen said.
The driver, who authorities said hit pedestrians on a busy street north of downtown Toronto, was in custody after leaving a trail of destruction stretching up to a mile, officials said. The van has been located, Toronto Police media representative Gary Long said.
Authorities have not said publicly if the vehicle collisions were intentional. But a law enforcement official briefed on the situation in Toronto told CNN the incident is believed to be deliberate.
The incident happened in the North York area at the intersection of Yonge Street and Finch Avenue, police said.
The suspect covered between a half-mile and a mile in the vehicle, said Stephen Powell, district chief for Toronto Fire. "It looked like he was going straight, halfway through the sidewalk," Luelo said.
Official sources refuse to release the name, or even confirm the obvious, i.e. this was deliberate, given that he aimed for the pavement and drove on it for a mile and a half.... So it seems a safe bet this is yet another Muslim attack....