Toronto van attack: 10 pedestrians dead, 15 injured near Yonge and Finch
The driver is in custody and police say they have mobilized “all available resources” as they investigate the incident
Emergency crews at the scene after several pedestrians were struck by a white van at Yonge and Finch. (Courtesy: Dave Diamond)
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A rental van jumped a curb and plowed down dozens of pedestrians along Yonge Street near Finch Ave. on Monday afternoon, killing 10 and leaving 15 injured. The driver was apprehended near Yonge and Sheppard and is now in custody.
No motive is currently known, but deputy police chief Peter Yuen says the police force has mobilized “all available resources” as they investigate the incident.
Yuen said calls began pouring into police at 1:30 p.m. reporting a driver careening down a stretch of Yonge Street between Finch Avenue and Sheppard Avenue in the city’s north end, which is home to many businesses.
Toronto Mayor John Tory offered condolences to the families and the victims of the incident, saying the city was setting up a hotline to offer support to those affected and another one for witnesses who could help with the police investigation.
Tory called for “a spirit of unity” as many residents are likely struggling to come to terms with what happened. This is a time when this community should come together.”
“These are not the kinds of things that we expect to happen in this city. We hope they don’t happen anywhere in the world, but we especially don’t expect them to happen in
Witness Cam Clark explained to 680 NEWS how quickly the idyllic afternoon was shattered by screams.
“Everybody was out enjoying the sunshine and all of a sudden there was this Ryder van coming south on the sidewalk…plowing people down,” he said. There was a girl near me just 10 feet away and he just ran right over here, I”m sure she’s dead. He just kept on going and people were flying everywhere.” “There was a guy on the sidewalk and one of his legs was totally mushed, nothing left of his leg. There were people lying there motionless and people screaming.” Another witness named Mark described a horrific scene that stretched several blocks and left the area littered with victims.
“We heard a loud crash and someone screaming,” he told 680 NEWS. “A couple blocks further there was a man lying in the road. He had been hit by a (vehicle). His shoes were like 100 feet away up the road, he’d obviously been hit very hard and flung far. I checked for vital signs, he appeared to be deceased.” “A couple blocks up there were another couple of people lying on the sidewalk being attended to by emergency personnel,” he added.
— with files from Canadian Press