Footage has emerged showing an intense standoff between a Toronto police officer and the suspect behind the horror van rampage that left 10 dead and 15 injured.
The video shows the suspect, identified as 25-year-old Alek Minassian, pointing an object at police on the street after getting out of a white van on Monday afternoon.
The officer can be heard repeatedly shouting: ‘Get down or you’ll be shot’ as the suspect continued to wave around the object.
Footage has emerged showing an intense standoff between a Toronto police officer and the suspect behind the horror van rampage that left 10 dead and 15 injured on Monday
Oblivious bystanders can be seen in the footage emerging from a building near Minassian before hurrying away as the standoff continued.
Alek Minassian, 25, of Richmond Hill, was arrested on Monday after allegedly killing 10 people and injuring 15 others in Toronto
Moments later the footage, which was shot by a witness in a nearby car, shows the suspect lying face-down on the sidewalk as the police officer handcuffs him.
Police have since confirmed that Minassian did not have a gun. It is not clear what he was pointing at the officer.
His arrest came soon after Minassian allegedly drove a rented van onto a crowded sidewalk on Yonge Street and started crashing into pedestrians.
Witnesses said the driver was moving fast and appeared to be acting deliberately, but police said they did not yet know the cause or any possible motive.
Speaking at a news conference Monday night, Toronto Police Chief Mark Saunders raised the initial death toll of nine to 10, saying another victim had died at a hospital. He said 15 others were hospitalized.
The video shows the suspect, identified as 25-year-old Alek Minassian, pointing an object at police on the street after getting out of a white van on Monday
Moments later the footage, which was shot by a witness in a nearby car, shows the suspect lying face-down on the sidewalk as the police officer handcuffs him
The driver was heading south on busy Yonge Street around 1.30pm and the streets were crowded with people enjoying an unseasonably warm day when the van jumped onto the sidewalk.
Ali Shaker, who was driving near the van at the time, told Canadian broadcast outlet CP24 that the driver appeared to be moving deliberately through the crowd at more than 30 mph.
‘He just went on the sidewalk,’ a distraught Shaker said. ‘He just started hitting everybody, man. He hit every single person on the sidewalk. Anybody in his way he would hit.’
Witness Peter Kang told CTV News that the driver did not seem to make any effort to stop.
‘If it was an accident he would have stopped,’ Kang said. ‘But the person just went through the sidewalk. He could have stopped.’
Police confirmed that 25-year-old Alek Minassian, of Richmond Hill, was arrested over the attack on Monday afternoon
His arrest came soon after Minassian allegedly drove a rented van onto a crowded sidewalk on Yonge Street and started crashing into pedestrians