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2018 Toronto van attack
Vehicle-ramming attack in Ontario, Canada From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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A terrorist vehicle-ramming attack occurred on April 23, 2018, when a rented van was driven along Yonge Street through the North York City Centre business district in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The driver, 25-year-old Alek Minassian, targeted pedestrians, killing 11[n 1] and injuring 15, some critically.[2] The incident, alongside the 2025 Vancouver car attack, is the deadliest vehicle-ramming attack in Canadian history.[3][4][5][6][7]
The attack started at the intersection of Yonge Street and Finch Avenue and proceeded south along the sidewalks of Yonge Street to near Sheppard Avenue. Nine of the eleven killed were women.[8][9] The perpetrator was arrested just south of the crime scene, after leaving the van and reportedly attempting to commit suicide by cop. The arrest was made at 1:32 p.m. EDT, seven minutes after the first 9-1-1 call was made.[10]
The attack is characterized as misogynist terrorism by some because it was motivated by revenge for perceived sexual and social rejection by women.[11] At the time of his arrest, Minassian described himself as an incel to the police,[12] and in prior social media postings, he described the upcoming attack as a continuation of the "incel rebellion" started by the late Elliot Rodger.[13] Minassian pleaded not criminally responsible to the 10 counts of first-degree murder and 16 counts of attempted murder in November 2020, but was found to be guilty on all counts in March 2021.[14] Anne Molloy, the judge of the case, said that "working out his exact motivation for this attack is ... close to impossible," but she "was inclined to accept" assessments by multiple expert witnesses that Minassian likely lied to the police and that notoriety was his main motivation, although misogyny or incel ideology may have still played some role.[15] On June 13, 2022, Minassian was sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole for 25 years.[16]
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Attack
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Weeks before the attack, on April 4th, Minassian called Ryder to rent a van. The pick-up date for the van was set to be on the day of the attack at 1:00 p.m.
On the day of the attack, at 11:38 a.m., Minassian was dropped off by his father at the front of a Chapters book store. He lied to his father about meeting a friend there. After his father left, Minassian proceeded to walk 4 kilometres (2.49 mi) to the Ryder building. Eventually, he reached the building at 12:40 p.m. In the Ryder building, he processed the rental agreement. During the transaction, Minassian expressed confusion about how he thought he rented a truck before ultimately accepting the van. In the parking lot, he asked the employees for assistance on operating the vehicle before driving away. Minassian drove along Highway 7 to reach Yonge Street. He would drive south down Yonge Street before reaching Finch Avenue.[17]
The first 9-1-1 call reporting pedestrians being hit was received at 1:25 p.m. Eastern Time.[18] At Finch Avenue, Minassian stopped his white Chevrolet Express at a red light. While sitting at the red light, Minassian noticed a crowd of people in front of a Korean barbeque restaurant. He used his phone and made a post announcing the attack on Facebook. The light eventually turned green and Minassian drove forward. When his van reached the intersection, he drove onto the sidewalk of Finch Avenue and struck seven people, killing two, in front of the Korean barbeque restaurant. The van continued forward, fatally striking an elderly woman in front of a Shopper's Drug Mart before crossing Tolman Street. Just south of Tolman Street, Minassian fatally ran over a man and dragged his body over a few metres before releasing the body. The van would reach Kempford Boulevard.[17]
While driving south across Kempford Boulevard, Minassian injured a man walking north on the crosswalk. Parts of the vehicle broke off as he struck the man. Minassian then fatally struck an elderly woman from behind in front of a nail spa, while she was walking down the sidewalk. In the process, he damaged his vehicle by side-swiping a concrete structure. In front of an apartment complex, Minassian struck and ran over a fire hydrant. Just after hitting the fire hydrant, he injured a male instructor who taught at Ryerson University. After striking the instructor, Minassian continued down the sidewalk, injuring two woman. The first woman was hit while Minassian's van struck a metal fence of a restaurant. She was standing near the metal fence. The second woman was struck near a bus stop. Her body was thrown into the bus stop just as Minassian shattered the glass wall of the stop. Minassian eventually reached the crosswalk at Horsham Avenue. While driving across Horsham Avenue, he struck a woman walking north on the crosswalk. The woman tried dodging the van, only for the driver side mirror to hit her head. Minassian's van proceeded to side-swipe several objects, further damaging it. Minassian next struck a man in front of a kebab store, running him over and dragging his body to the front of a church. The man would survive his injuries. Minassian continued driving on the sidewalk, even breaking a fence, until he reached Churchill Avenue.[17]
At Churchill Avenue, Minassian re-entered the roadway and drove down Yonge street without striking anyone. In the block between Ellerslie Avenue and Parkview Avenue, Minassian drove southeast and went on the northbound lane, driving against traffic. When he reached the intersection of Parkview Avenue, he fatally struck an elderly man who was trying to cross the road from west to east. The elderly man was thrown into the air before landing headfirst onto the pavement near a convenience store. Minassian continued driving down the roadway against the traffic, until eventually driving over a median to go back to the southbound lanes. At Park Home Avenue, the van again re-entered the sidewalk, hitting a crowd of six pedestrians just south of the intersection, killing two. Just after striking the crowd, the dead body of one of the pedestrians became stuck underneath Minassian's vehicle, causing the van to significantly slow down. Minassian's van would proceed to sideswipe trees and crash into mailboxes.[17]
Eventually, Minassian reached Mel Lastman Square, a civic plaza on the west side of Yonge Street, 1.4 kilometres (0.87 mi) south of Finch Avenue (16 blocks).[19] At Mel Lastman Square, Minassian fatally struck three women. The first of the women tried to avoid the van, only to be struck. She would die of her injuries years later, in 2021. The second woman was struck and ran over underneath the square's large sign. Her body was dragged a short distance before being expelled out from underneath the van. The third woman struck was walking with her friend with a Starbucks drink in her hand. Her friend noticed the van and got out of the way while she was struck by the van. As she was struck, her drink splashed on and stained Minassian's windshield, obscuring his vision. She was run over and dislodged from the van, along with the body of the pedestrian Minassian had been dragging since he struck the crowd of six at the sidewalk, just south of Park Home Avenue. She would be the last person hit by the van, and Minassian even claimed he stopped because her drink covered his vision. After striking the pedestrians, Minassian scraped and struck several objects in Mel Lastman Square as people moved out of the way from the van. He would cross North York Boulevard and continue down the sidewalk, striking a potted plant.[17]
Minassian eventually turned right down a small road between buildings, towards Beecroft Road. As the van turned right, a crowd of people, including a police officer, caught up to the vehicle and tried opening the door only to realize it was locked. At this point, the van was severely damaged. Minassian eventually turned left to enter Beecroft Road and drove south on the northbound lane, driving against traffic again. As he reached the intersection of Beecroft Road and Sheppard Avenue West, he ran the red light and continued driving south, hitting a car in the process. He continued driving south down Beecroft Road, moving in the flow of traffic, until he turned left at Bogert Avenue. He weaved between the sidewalk and the road as he dodged objects before re-entering the sidewalk. As he reached Yonge Street, he made a right turn, while on the sidewalk, causing his van to strike several objects. Minassian continued driving down the sidewalk of Yonge Street before making a right turn onto the north sidewalk of Poyntz Avenue.[17]
Throughout the attack, the van drove along the sidewalk down several blocks, striking pedestrians.[20] Motorists on the street would honk their horns to warn pedestrians about the van as the attack was taking place. Civilians even chased after the van and tried to get Minassian to stop.
The first 9-1-1 call reporting pedestrians being hit was received at 1:25 p.m. Eastern Time.[21][22]
Paramedics were immediately called to the site, and Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre was activated as an emergency centre.[23]
A single police officer in traffic control capacity,[24] Toronto Police Service constable Ken Lam, intercepted the damaged van, which was stopped on the north sidewalk on Poyntz Avenue, just west of Yonge Street and two blocks south of Sheppard Avenue, about 2.3 kilometres (1.4 mi) south of where the attack began. Lam stopped his unmarked cruiser near the van and confronted the suspected driver, later identified as Alek Minassian, standing near the opened driver-side door.[25][26]
During the confrontation, the driver of the van repeatedly drew his hand from his back pocket and pointed a wallet toward the officer as if it were a pistol.[26][27][28] Lam ordered the driver to drop to the ground, while the driver tried repeatedly to provoke the officer to kill him, demanding he be shot "in the head!" when the officer warned him he may be shot. Lam then went to his cruiser and turned off its siren. As the driver and Lam advanced towards each other, the officer recognized that the object in the driver's hand was not a gun, holstered his pistol, and took out his baton to avoid the use of unnecessary lethal force. The driver then dropped the object from his hand, lay down on the ground and surrendered to Lam. He was arrested at 1:32 p.m.[29]
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Victims
Nine people died at the scenes. The same evening, at 8:15 p.m., the Toronto Police Service announced that a tenth person had died.[23] An eleventh person died on October 28, 2021, after being paralyzed from the neck down and never leaving the hospital.[30] The dead, aged 22 to 94, consisted of nine women and two men, including two South Korean nationals[31][32][33] and a Jordanian national.[34][35]
Fifteen others, ten women and five men aged 21 to 90, were injured. They included three citizens of South Korea, an Iranian national, and a Russian national.[36][37][38][39]
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Aftermath
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The Toronto subway and bus services in the area were immediately closed or rerouted by the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC).[26] Parts of Yonge Street were cordoned off until late on April 24, 2018, for the police investigation.[40][41] Civic buildings in the area were closed late April 23 and remained closed throughout April 24. Area businesses were allowed to remain open, but in areas of pedestrian deaths, those fronting on Yonge Street were allowed access from only the rear entrances.[42] Many businesses in the most affected areas chose to close down for all of April 24, while some opened at different times of the afternoon of April 24. The area was fully open and transit services resumed by April 25.
Security was heightened around a meeting of G7 security ministers being held in Toronto in advance of the 44th G7 summit in La Malbaie, Quebec.[43] The ministers were briefed on the attack shortly after it occurred and the day after the attack, the meeting's agenda included discussion on "soft targets", terrorism and social media, and online youth radicalization.[44] The incident was included in the 2018 Public Report on the Terrorism Threat to Canada.[45] Faisal Hussain, perpetrator of the 2018 Toronto shooting had also developed an interest in inceldom prior to his attack but police found no evidence of radicalization.[46]
Perpetrator
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Police identified the suspect as Alek Minassian, who had no prior criminal history.[49][50] His father, Vahe, had moved from Armenia to Canada and worked as a software developer, and his mother, Sona, was from Iran and had a job at IT company Compugen Inc.[51] Minassian was also an aspiring software and mobile app developer.[52]
Minassian was born in North York, formerly an independent city now a district of Toronto.[53] According to his LinkedIn profile, he was a student at Seneca College in North York from 2011 to 2018 and lived in Richmond Hill. Minassian had attended Sixteenth Avenue Public School, an elementary school in Richmond Hill, in a special education class.[54][52] His former classmates at Thornlea Secondary School in Thornhill described him as "not overly social" and "harmless".[29][55] Minassian attended a special needs class for students within the autism spectrum while at Thornlea Secondary School;[56] Minassian's mother is quoted as saying in a 2009 article that her son has Asperger syndrome.[57]
In late 2017, Minassian enrolled in the Canadian Armed Forces for two months, before requesting voluntary release after 16 days of recruit training.[58] A senior military official said that Minassian "wasn't adapting to military life, including in matters of dress, deportment and group interactions in a military setting" and "there were no red flags and nothing that would point to anything like this."[59]
Following the attack, a Facebook post made by Minassian was uncovered in which he identified himself as an incel ("involuntary celibate").[29][60] The state of involuntary celibacy refers to being unable to find sexual partners[61] and its subculture consists of primarily male online communities.[62][63] The post, dated shortly before the beginning of the attack on April 23, read:
Private (Recruit) Minassian Infantry 00010, wishing to speak to Sgt 4chan please. C23249161. The Incel Rebellion has already begun! We will overthrow all the Chads and Stacys! All hail the Supreme Gentleman Elliot Rodger![7][64]
"Chad" and "Stacy" are nicknames used on incel-related forums within 4chan and Reddit to refer to popular, attractive, sexually active men and women, respectively.[65][66] The term "Incel Rebellion" is sometimes used interchangeably with the term "Beta Uprising" or "Beta Male Uprising", which refers to a violent response to sexlessness.[67] Elliot Rodger was the "incel founding father" who committed the 2014 Isla Vista killings in California, and someone whom Minassian claimed to have had contact with up until the days before the 2014 attacks.[68][69][70] Rodger intended to target attractive women and sexually successful men, which led to him being posthumously idolized by some people on misogynistic online fringe communities, including several incel websites.[71] Facebook, Inc. verified the account as belonging to Minassian.[29][69] A source in the Department of National Defence told media that C23249161 was Minassian's military identification number during his army training.[72]
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Legal proceedings
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On April 24, 2018, Minassian appeared without a lawyer before the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in a Toronto courthouse, shackled and wearing a white prison jumpsuit. He was charged with 10 counts of first degree murder and 13 counts of attempted murder and ordered not to contact any of the alleged attempted murder victims.[73] His father, Vahe Minassian, attended the hearing. He told reporters that he had not spoken to his son.[74] Minassian was charged with three additional counts of attempted murder on May 10: a total of 16 counts.[75] He later retained Toronto criminal defence lawyer Boris Bytensky to represent him.[76] His trial was initially scheduled for February 10, 2020,[77] later moved to March 2,[78] and later moved to April 6, but was postponed again because of the COVID-19 pandemic in Toronto to November.[12][79]
The trial began on November 10, 2020, and was conducted over Zoom due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[80] Minassian, who had already admitted to planning and carrying out the attack, pleaded not criminally responsible to the 10 counts of first-degree murder and 16 counts of attempted murder.[81][82] During testimony on November 12, a psychiatrist retained by Minassian's defence team stated in a report that Minassian's "autistic way of thinking was severely distorted in a way similar to psychosis", despite Minassian not being technically psychotic.[83] Attempts by Minassian and his defence to claim that he was not responsible for his actions due to his autism garnered criticism from autism rights advocates, who expressed concerns that the trial might worsen stigmas towards autistic people.[15] Minassian was also found to be highly intelligent.[84]
In the decision, Ontario Superior Court Justice Anne Molloy believed that Minassian seemed to be motivated by the desire for notoriety, and referred to him as "Mr. Doe" so as to avoid giving him further recognition.[15] She wrote, "It is almost impossible to tell when Mr. Doe is lying and when he is telling the truth. Working out his exact motivation for this attack is likewise close to impossible," but that "nevertheless, I am inclined to accept the assessment of all of the experts that Mr. Doe did lie to the police about much of the incel motivation he talked about and that the incel movement was not in fact a primary driving force behind the attack."[15] She also rejected his attempt to use his autism as a defence.[85] On March 3, 2021, Minassian was found guilty on all counts in a verdict that was given by Molloy and streamed live on YouTube.[86] However, sentencing was deferred until 2022 to await the decision of the Supreme Court of Canada in R v Bissonnette on whether prisoners can be made to serve murder sentences consecutively.[87] On June 13, 2022, Minassian was sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole for 25 years.[16] He filed a notice of appeal the following month, arguing among other things that the trial judge "misapprehended" expert evidence and made unreasonable findings.[88]
Sporting events
Around the Air Canada Centre, roads were closed and blocked off with dump trucks, due to safety concerns for fans gathered at Maple Leaf Square to watch the National Hockey League playoff game between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Boston Bruins on the evening of April 23.[89][90] A moment of silence was observed during the game in sympathy for the victims.[91]
Concrete barriers were put up along the edge of the northern sidewalk along Bremner Boulevard in front of the Rogers Centre, due to the same safety concerns prior to the Toronto Blue Jays baseball game against the Boston Red Sox on April 24, 2018.[92] Prior to the game, the Blue Jays honoured a few of the first responders in a ceremony, which included a video memorial for the victims of the attack followed by a moment of silence.[93]
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Reaction
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Many domestic leaders expressed their support and condolences in the immediate aftermath of the attack, including Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau,[94] Opposition Leader Andrew Scheer,[94] Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne,[95] and Toronto Mayor John Tory.[96]
Constable Ken Lam was lauded as a hero for his measured use of force to achieve a non-fatal resolution of his confrontation with Minassian, despite Minassian's seeking suicide by cop.[97] Lam insisted that he was simply performing his duty.[98][99]
Lighting at the CN Tower and the 3D Toronto sign at Nathan Phillips Square were colourless and dimmed for the evening of April 23, 2018. Flags were placed at half-mast at most government locations in Toronto and surrounding municipalities.[100]
An impromptu memorial at Olive Square Park on the east-side of Yonge Street, directly across the street from where the attack began, was started by a local resident at 5:15 p.m. of the same day for people to place flowers and express their grief in writing.[101] The person who started the memorial indicated that all the other public spaces along Yonge Street, including Mel Lastman Square, were cordoned off by police tape so he chose Olive Square which was not cordoned off.[102] Small memorials ranging from a few bunches of flowers to about two dozen bunches of flowers, plus paper messages, photographs and candles in some cases, were established at each location from just south of Finch Avenue to just south of Park Home Avenue where a pedestrian was killed (at the southwest corner of Yonge Street and Park Home Avenue two victims were killed).[103] Next to the fountain at the entry to Mel Lastman Square, where the greatest number of people were struck (at least two killed), another memorial gradually grew to become a hub memorial almost as large as the one at Olive Square.[103]
On April 26, 2025, three days after the 7th anniversary of the attack, Canterbury Place street signs in North York were temporarily renamed to "Heroes' Way" in tribute to first-responders.[104] This occurred on the same day as the Vancouver car attack.
#TorontoStrong
Several crowdfunding campaigns were set up to raise money for the expenses of the victims' families.[105][106] To better coordinate crowdfunding, the City of Toronto established the #TorontoStrong Fund to support victims and their families, first responders, and those affected by trauma.[107] The hashtag was reused in memoriam of the victims of the fatal mass shooting that occurred in the Danforth on July 22 of the same year.
Several vigils were held in the following week. A small vigil was held at Lastman Square on the evening of April 24.[108] Another was held by the Toronto Korean Community Association on April 27 at Lastman Square. An official #TorontoStrong Vigil was held by the City of Toronto on April 29, attended by several thousand.[109][108] It began with a march from Yonge Street and Finch Avenue and ended with a gathering at Lastman Square. Speaking at the gathering were community leaders and the event was attended by Prime Minister Trudeau, Governor General Julie Payette, Premier Wynne, Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard, and Mayor Tory.[110][111]
The two main impromptu memorials at Olive Square Park and Mel Lastman Square were decommissioned on June 3, 2018, and later replaced with a temporary plaque. Mayor John Tory announced plans to erect a permanent memorial for the attack.[112]
On June 13, 2018, the #TorontoStrong's volunteer steering committee announced the appointment of former Toronto mayor Barbara Hall as fund administrator. She was tasked with distributing the money raised for the victims and survivors.[113]
By December 2018, over CA$4 million from the fund had been distributed to victims and families of both the van attack and the Danforth shooting.[114]
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See also
- 2014 Isla Vista killings – misogynistic terror attacks perpetrated by Elliot Rodger, by whom Minassian was inspired.
- Tsuyama massacre
- 2009 Collier Township shooting
- 2015 Umpqua Community College shooting
- 2018 Tallahassee shooting
- 2020 Nova Scotia attacks – the deadliest mass shooting in Canada
- 2025 Vancouver car attack
- École Polytechnique massacre – the second deadliest mass shooting in Canada, which was also motivated by misogyny[115]
- London, Ontario truck attack – a 2021 Islamophobic vehicle-ramming attack that targeted and killed four members of a Muslim family and injured a fifth
- Toronto machete attack – a terrorist attack in Toronto that was also motivated by misogyny
- Controversial Reddit communities, which includes the subreddits /r/incels and /r/braincels, both of which are since banned for condoning violence, rape, and harassment towards women; the latter subreddit was created to circumvent the ban of the former
- Crime in Toronto
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Notes
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External links
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