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 VOA News

Published: April 24, 2018

A motorist suspected of killing 10 people by driving a van down a sidewalk in Toronto is scheduled to appear in court Tuesday.

Canadian police have been looking for a motive behind Monday's attack that also injured 15 others.

Toronto Police Chief Mark Saunders identified the suspect as 25-year old Alek Minassian and said he was from a Toronto suburb. Saunders said the attack "definitely looked deliberate."

Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale said he consulted with senior security officials and that based on all available information "there would appear to be no national security connection to this particular incident."

The attack was the worst massing killing in Canada in decades. It has the characteristics of other deadly vehicle assaults by Islamic State sympathizers in the U.S. and Europe, but authorities said the attack does not appear to be linked to terrorism.

Witnesses describing the scene said the van struck person after person with the driver seeming to make no effort to stop. Minassian was taken into custody a short time later "without incident," according to police.