--- description: Toronto police identified Alek Minassian as the suspect in the van attack that left 10 people dead and 14 others injured. title: What We Know About Toronto Van Attack Suspect Alek Minassian image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3f6d65595898415a/69892e7a929fadc3d2bf059d/toronto-van-attack1.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Crime](/tag/crime/) ## Crime Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # What We Know About Toronto Van Attack Suspect Alek Minassian by [Jennifer Calfas](/author/jennifer-calfas/) and [Katie Reilly](/author/katie-reilly/) Updated: Dec 12, 2023 8:21 PM CUTPublished: Apr 24, 2018 1:22 PM CUT  Police inspect a van suspected of being involved in a collision injuring at least eight people at Yonge St. and Finch Ave. on April 23, 2018 in Toronto, Canada. Police inspect a van suspected of being involved in a collision injuring at least eight people at Yonge St. and Finch Ave. on April 23, 2018 in Toronto, Canada.Cole Burston—Getty Images by [Jennifer Calfas](/author/jennifer-calfas/) and [Katie Reilly](/author/katie-reilly/) Updated: Dec 12, 2023 8:21 PM CUTPublished: Apr 24, 2018 1:22 PM CUT Toronto police have identified a 25-year-old man as the suspect accused of driving a rented van into crowds of pedestrians on Monday, killing [10 people and injuring 14 others](http://time.com/5251437/toronto-van-attack-latest/ "undefined"). Alek Minassian — of Richmond Hill in the greater Toronto area — was arrested near the scene of the Toronto attack after a [short, intense stand-off](http://time.com/5251768/toronto-van-attack-video-suspect/ "undefined") with Toronto police on Monday. He appeared in court Tuesday morning and was charged with 10 counts of first-degree murder and 13 counts of attempted murder. He did not enter a plea and will return to court on May 10, the Associated Press reported. At a press conference on Tuesday afternoon, Homicide Detective Sergeant Graham Gibson of the Toronto Police Service said he is anticipating a 14th count of attempted murder to come. > [](https://twitter.com/TPSOperations/status/988640774849007616) Here’s what to know about the Toronto van attack suspect: ## His motive is still under investigation Police have said that Minassian, who was not previously known to law enforcement, deliberately struck pedestrians. But they have not released more information about his motive, citing their ongoing investigation. At a press conference on Tuesday, Gibson said that Minassian allegedly posted a “cryptic message on [Facebook](http://fortune.com/fortune500/facebook/ "undefined") minutes before he began driving the rented van” and “deliberately striking pedestrians.” Gibson declined to elaborate further on the Facebook post. But Minassian had written a post on Monday praising [Elliot Rodger](http://time.com/113948/elliot-rodger-ucsb-santa-barbara/ "undefined"), who killed six people at the University of California, Santa Barbara in 2014\. Rodger had written a manifesto in which he said he sought to “punish all females for the crime of depriving me of sex.” “All hail the Supreme Gentleman Elliot Rodger!” Minassian wrote in the Facebook post. His account has since been deleted. While Gibson said the victims of Monday’s attack were “predominantly female,” he said he did not know if Minassian had deliberately targeted women. “At this stage we have no evidence of that occurring,” he said at Tuesday’s press conference. Vehicles have been used as a weapon in other attacks around the world. A man [killed eight people](http://time.com/5004389/nypd-shots-fired-new-york-lower-manhattan/ "undefined") using a pickup truck in New York City last fall. In Nice, France, a man drove a truck into a crowd celebrating Bastille Day in July 2016, [killing 86 people](http://time.com/4407407/nice-france-truck-attack-what-we-know/ "undefined"). Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday that he had “no reason to suspect that there is any national security element to this attack.” ## Minassian had a tense standoff with police Videos posted on social media of the brief stand-off between Minassian and police showed the suspect holding what appears to be a cell phone and pointing it to look like a handgun. In the video, a police officer could be heard shouting, “Get down! Get down!” The video showed the officer pointing a gun at the suspect and giving him multiple warnings. During the confrontation, the suspect yelled “shoot me in the head.” The officer eventually stepped closer to him until the suspect dropped the object. Officers then arrested him. > [](https://twitter.com/Warren%5Ff23/status/988505331788464128) ## Minassian attended a local college A LinkedIn profile that appears to belong to Minassian says he attended Senaca College in Toronto from 2011 through 2018\. The university did not immediately respond to a request for comment from TIME. Classmates from high school and college [told Canada’s _Globe and Mail_](https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/toronto/article-suspect-in-toronto-van-attack-described-as-socially-awkward-tech/ "undefined") that Minassian appeared to be socially awkward and had significant knowledge of computers and computer chips. One classmate told the _Globe and Mail_ he did not believe Minassian knew how to drive a car. “My memory is not perfect, but certainly, it would not be, I don’t think, a misstatement to say that he wasn’t overly social,” Ari Bluff, who went to Thornlea Secondary School with Minassian, told [CBC News](http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/toronto-van-attack-driver-profile-alek-minassian-1.4632435 "undefined"). ## Police are still seeking witnesses of the attack As police continue their investigation, they [are still seeking witnesses](http://tpsnews.ca/stories/2018/04/witnesses-sought-yonge-finch-investigation/ "undefined") of the attack to provide further information. Witnesses with photos or videos of the incident can upload them [here.](http://www.torontopolice.on.ca/yongefinch/ "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5252154/alek-minassian-toronto-van-attack-suspect/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5252154/alek-minassian-toronto-van-attack-suspect/"},"headline":"What We Know About Toronto Van Attack Suspect Alek Minassian","datePublished":"2018-04-24T13:22:00.000Z","dateModified":"2023-12-12T20:21:55.000Z","description":"Police haven't commented on his motive","url":"https://time.com/5252154/alek-minassian-toronto-van-attack-suspect/","keywords":["Crime","Canada","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3f6d65595898415a/69892e7a929fadc3d2bf059d/toronto-van-attack1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jennifer Calfas","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/jennifer-calfas/"},{"@type":"Person","name":"Katie Reilly","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3f6d65595898415a/69892e7a929fadc3d2bf059d/toronto-van-attack1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Rental Van Plows Into Pedestrians On Toronto Street, Injuring At Least Eight","caption":"Rental Van Plows Into Pedestrians On Toronto Street, Injuring At Least Eight","creditText":"Cole Burston—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/crime/","name":"Crime"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5252154/alek-minassian-toronto-van-attack-suspect/","name":"What We Know About Toronto Van Attack Suspect Alek Minassian"}}]}] ```