2018 Toronto van attack

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A 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 and injuring 15, some critically. The incident is the deadliest vehicle-ramming attack in Canadian history.

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. 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 1:32p.m.EDT, seven minutes after the first 9-1-1 call was made.

The attack is characterized as misogynist terrorism by some because it was motivated by revenge for perceived sexual and social rejection by women, although this conclusion has been challenged. At the time of his arrest, Minassian described himself as an incel to the police, and in prior social media postings, he described the upcoming attack as a continuation of the "incel rebellion" started by the late Elliot Rodger. 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. 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. On June 13, 2022, Minassian was sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole for 25 years. Provided by Wikipedia