• Suspect Alek Minassian in custody • 10 people dead, 15 wounded • Police officer hailed a hero for not firing shot • Investigators say no threat to national security The Toronto attack suspect begged police to shoot him before being arrested in connection with the death of ten pedestrians killed after a van mounted a pavement. As victims of the attack were left strewn across the street Alek Minassian, who has now been pictured, was locked in a tense police stand-off, during which video footage showed him telling officers he had a gun and shouting: “Shoot me in the head”. In the video Minassian shouts that he has a gun and then says: “Kill me.” The officer, hailed a hero for not opening fire, declines and demands Minassian “get down” before he is arrested. Witnesses described a van driver mounting a kerb and swerving to deliberately hit pedestrians, leaving a pushchair “split in half” and hitting people sitting on a bench. The suspect was later named by police as Minassian, a 25-year-old student. Minassian appeared in court on Tuesday morning where a judge detained him on ten counts of murder and thirteen count of attempted murder. Dressed in a white prison jumpsuit with a shaved head and his hands cuffed, he showed little emotion as the charges were read. He did not enter a plea to the charges and was ordered to return to court on May 10. Police have revealed the 25-year-old suspect was not known to intelligence agencies and that the incident was not being treated as a threat to national security. Alek Minassian (pictured), 25, is accused of carrying out the van attack in Toronto The driver posted a “cryptic” Facebook message minutes before the van attack, police said on Tuesday night. Facebook has …read more
Source:: Yahoo News
