Toronto van attack suspect Alek Minassian's Facebook account praised mass killer

Show Caption Hide Caption Toronto van attack: Here's what we know Alleged suspect 25-year-old Alek Minnassian repeatedly drove a van onto a sidewalk at a busy intersection in Toronto, killing 10 and injuring 15.

TORONTO — A man whose Facebook account paid homage to a mass killer was charged Tuesday with 10 counts of first-degree murder, one day after police say he plowed a rented van onto a crowded sidewalk in what eyewitness accounts and surveillance video appeared to indicate was a deliberate attack.

Alek Minassian, 25, handcuffed and wearing a white jumpsuit, appeared briefly in court but spoke little, telling the judge his name and that he understood the charges. He was also charged with 13 counts of attempted murder.

Justice of the Peace Stephen Waisberg barred Minassian, who remains in custody, from contact with the victims or their families. Minassian was represented by the Canadian equivalent of a public defender but did not enter a plea. He was ordered back in court May 10.

The nation of 35 million people remained stunned and in mourning. The carnage represented the worst mass killing in Canada since 1989, when Marc Lepine killed 14 women at an engineering school in Montreal before taking his own life.

President Trump expressed solidarity with Canadians, tweeting: "Americans stand with you and all of Canada, Prime Minister @JustinTrudeau. Our thoughts and prayers are with you all. #TorontoStrong"

Investigators here are determined to learn who Minassian really is and why he raced relentlessly down the sidewalk in a white Ryder van, slamming into pedestrians along a busy stretch of Yonge Street.

Ten people were killed and 14 injured in Monday's bloodbath. The victims' ages range from the 20s to the 80s and injuries from scrapes to far more serious wounds. Authorities said they expect to charge Minassian with a 14th count of attempted murder.

Investigators said that Minassian had not been known to authorities and that no motive had yet emerged — but that his actions seemed deliberate.

More: Video shows Toronto officer's dramatic arrest of van attack suspect

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More: Witnesses stunned by carnage in Toronto

Minassian was briefly enlisted in the Canadian Armed Forces, serving for two months in late 2017, Canada’s Department of National Defense confirmed in a statement to USA TODAY.

“He did not complete his recruit training and requested to be voluntarily released from the CAF after 16 days of recruit training,” the statement said. “For privacy reasons, we will not comment further on Alek Minassian’s service in the CAF.”

A post referencing "incel rebellion" and 2014 mass killer Elliot Rodger appeared on Minassian's Facebook account before the attack Monday. "Incel" is slang for involuntarily celibate. Rodger, who had described himself as a sexual outcast, killed six people and injured 14 near the campus of University of California-Santa Barbara before killing himself.

“Private (Recruit) Minassian Infantry 00010, wishing to speak to Sgt 4chan please,” the original Facebook post reads. “C23249161. The Incel Rebellion has already begun!.. All hail the Supreme Gentleman Elliot Rodger!”

Facebook spokeswoman Meg Sinclair said Minassian's account has been deleted.

“This is a terrible tragedy and our hearts go out to the people who have been affected," she said in a statement. "There is absolutely no place on our platform for people who commit such horrendous acts."

Detective Sgt. Graham Gibson, citing the Facebook post, said a majority of the Toronto victims were women. But he declined to comment on what may have motivated the suspect to act out. Gibson also said it was too early in the investigation to determine whether Minassian had mental illness.

On Tuesday, the Minassian family home in suburban Richmond Hill was cordoned off in yellow tape while officers in three squad cars stood guard. Neighbors said the young man was rarely seen in the quiet subdivision of large brick and stucco homes.

Chris Prescott could not recall seeing the suspect once in more than two years the two lived on the same block. Another neighbor, Bill Smith, said he said hello to Minassian once last year as he walked by his house. Minassian ignored him.

“I didn’t think much of it other than I wasn’t going to say hello to him again,” said Smith, whose daughter works on the strip of Yonge Street where the carnage took place.

The Toronto Star newspaper quoted Joseph Pham, 25, who said he took a computer programming class with Minassian at Seneca College just last week.

Pham described Minassian as "socially awkward" and said he "kept to himself."

The charging document identified the 13 victims of attempted murder as Samantha Samson, Samantha Peart, Morgan McDougall, Mavis Justin, Catherine Riddell, Aleksandra Kozhevinikova, Amir Kiumarsi, Yusheng Tian, Jun Seok Park, Amaresh Tesfamariam, So Ra, Beverly Smith and Robert Anderson.

The victims who died were not named in the charging document. South Korea's Yonhap news agency said two of those killed were South Korean.

Minassian was arrested minutes after the rampage in a brief but tense standoff recorded by a witness. The suspect stood outside the van, his arm raised and pointing something at a lone officer, who pointed his gun at the suspect.

"Come on, get down!" the officer says.

"Kill me," Minassian replied.

"No, Get down, get down!" the officer says.

"I have a gun in my pocket," the suspect says. The officer says he doesn't care and repeats the order to get down. The suspect repeats his claim of a gun in his pocket.

The officer finally appears to determine that whatever the man is pointing, it's not a gun. The officer holsters his own gun, draws a baton and approaches.

The man quickly backs off, then lies on the ground and the officer cuffs him.

Authorities played down a possible connection to terrorism at a time when Toronto this week is hosting Group of Seven foreign and security ministers for a summit. Ralph Goodale, Canada’s public safety minister, said the investigation had turned up "no discernible connection” to national security concerns.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the tragedy should not change how Canadians go about their daily activities.

“We cannot live in fear as we go about our everyday lives,” Trudeau said.

Contributing: Kim Hjelmgaard. Bacon reported from McLean, Va.