EDMONTON—Toronto police Const. Ken Lam is getting praise from law enforcement experts from coast to coast for maintaining his calm as he arrested the suspect in Monday’s deadly van rampage in downtown Toronto.

Edmonton Chief Rod Knecht is among those giving Lam a nod.

“They are obviously training their people properly and their people are doing the right thing. As a chief of police, I would be proud to have a member like that serving under me,” Knecht said. “His ability in arresting somebody that is obviously distraught, in a very difficult place, and to arrest them without incident, without harm, without having to fire a shot is amazing, it’s remarkable.”

Lam’s actions — taking Alek Minassian into custody without incident despite verbal threats that he had a gun — speak to his professionalism and the professionalism of the Toronto Police Service, Knecht added.

He should “have a medal pinned on his chest,” the chief said.

Ten people were killed and 14 injured in the Toronto incident that saw the driver of a van plow down pedestrians along a more than one-kilometre stretch of sidewalk.

Minassian, 25, of Richmond Hill has been charged with 10 counts of first-degree murder and another 13 counts of attempted murder. His next court appearance is scheduled for May 10.

Few Canadian police have faced a vehicle attack, but, last September, it was Edmonton police on the front lines when a driver rammed a car into police officer Const. Mike Chernyk outside an Edmonton stadium, stabbing Chernyk before fleeing the scene.

The events in downtown Toronto drew parallels to Edmonton’s so-called lone wolf attack on Sept 30, but Knecht stressed “we were fortunate in our situation that there was no loss of life.”

It started when a driver ran his car into a police officer outside of an Edmonton Eskimos football game, stabbing the officer before fleeing the scene.

The stabbing sparked a manhunt, with officers identifying the alleged attacker when a rented U-Haul truck was pulled over at a check stop on Wayne Gretzky Drive hours later. The suspect fled in the truck with a dozen police cruisers in pursuit.

The driver allegedly careened towards pedestrians, hitting four near Jasper Avenue, before officers flipped the truck using a tactical manoeuvre. Officers smashed through the windshield, detonated a stun grenade and Tasered the suspect before taking him into custody.

Knecht applauded the actions of his officers involved.

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“When you talk to the members that were first on the scene, it was one of those shoot or don’t shoot situations, and they showed remarkable restraint and tremendous situational awareness,” Knecht said.

Addressing media Tuesday afternoon, Toronto police Chief Mark Saunders commended Lam, calling him “remarkable” and said de-escalation is a “focal point” of officer training.