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WATCH: Toronto officer apprehends van driver, who killed 10, unharmed
A Toronto police officer is being praised after taking down Toronto van attack suspect without gunfire.
From the video, the 25-year-old suspect Alek Minassian appears to simulate drawing a weapon multiple times, but the officer does not fire.
Toronto Police Apprehend Van Incident Suspect
This is how it’s done! This Toronto Police Officer was able to apprehend the suspect after he pretended to have a gun and shouted “Shoot me!” over and over. The Officer quickly realized it wasn’t a gun and moved in to make the arrest without having to fire a shot. Kudos to the Officer and the recent revamp in the Toronto Police Department’s training methods to reduce fatal encounters.
Posted by An American in Canada on Monday, April 23, 2018
“Come on, get down,” the officer shouts after drawing his weapon.
“Kill me,” the man says in between making quick-draw motions with his arm.
“No, get down,” the officer responds.
“I have a gun in my pocket,” the man says.
“I don’t care. Get down,” the officer responds. “Get down or you’ll be shot.”
A Toronto police official said that women made up most of the victims of the deadly van attack but it’s not yet known if they were deliberately targeted.
Ten were killed and 14 were injured.
The issue arose because of what police called a “cryptic” Facebook message posted by Minassian just before the incident that suggested he was part of an online community angry over their inability to form relationships with women.
Minassian on his now-deleted Facebook account saluted a community college student who killed six people and wounded 13 in shooting and stabbing attacks near the University of California, Santa Barbara, in 2014.
He called the Carlifornia killer Elliot Rodger “the Supreme Gentleman,” The Facebook post declared: “The Incel Rebellion has already begun! We will overthrow all the Chads and Stacys!”
The 22-year-old Rodger had used the term “incel” — for involuntarily celibate — in online posts raging at women for rejecting him romantically. Like-minded people in internet forums sometimes use “Chad” and “Stacy” as dismissive slang for men and women with more robust sex lives.
Monday’s Facebook post mentions that “Private (Recruit) Minassian” is speaking, and Facebook confirmed that the post was on an account that belonged to the suspect.
The president of Toronto’s police union said the officer’s behavior in arresting Minassian in Monday’s deadly van attack was “one shining moment” in an otherwise horrific day.
Mike McCormack of the Toronto Police Association said Tuesday “We’re extremely proud of (Const. Ken Lam),” and adds, “He may have prevented additional deaths.”