A man accused of killing four members of a Canadian Muslim family after running them over in his pickup truck, targeted them in an attack motivated by hate, police said on Monday.
\nPolice in London, Ontario, citing witnesses, said that 20-year-old Nathaniel Veltman, jumped the curb in his vehicle on Sunday, struck five members of the family, ranging in age from 9 to 74, and then drove off at high speed.
\nVeltman, a resident of London who was arrested after the incident, has been charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder. He is due back in court on Thursday after being remanded to custody on Monday.
\n\u201cThere is evidence that this was a planned, premeditated act, motivated by hate,\u201d Detective Superintendent Paul Waight of the London police department told reporters. \u201cWe believe the victims were targeted because of their Islamic faith,\u201d Waight said.
\nHe added that police in London – 200 km (120 miles) southwest of Toronto – were consulting with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and prosecutors about potentially filing terrorism charges.
\nThe suspect does not have a criminal record, and is not known to be a member of a hate group, police said. He was arrested in a mall parking lot without incident while wearing a body-armor-type vest, police said. There is no evidence he had any accomplices. It was not immediately known if the suspect had hired a lawyer.
\nPolice have not yet released the victims\u2019 names, but the London Free Press said that among the dead were Syed Afzaal, 46, his wife, Madiha Salman, 44, and their 15-year-old daughter, Yumnah Afzaal. Syed Afzaal\u2019s 74-year-old mother, whose name is not yet confirmed, also died. Their 9-year-old son, Faez Afzaal, is in the hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries.
\nThe family immigrated from Pakistan about 14 years ago, according to media reports.
\nEyewitness Paige Martin told reporters a black truck blasted past her and ran a red light as she was walking, and then she came upon the scene and saw \u201cchaos\u201d: \u201cIt was just absolutely like something that you never want to see.\u201d
\nThe attack was the worst against Canadian Muslims since a man gunned down six members of a Quebec City mosque in 2017. London Mayor Ed Holder said it was the worst mass murder his city had ever seen.
\n\u201cWe grieve for the family, three generations of whom are now deceased,\u201d Holder told reporters. \u201cThis was an act of mass murder, perpetrated against Muslims, against Londoners, and rooted in unspeakable hatred.\u201d
\nCanadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Twitter that he was \u201chorrified\u201d by the news, adding that \u201cIslamophobia has no place in any of our communities. This hate is insidious and despicable – and it must stop.\u201d
\nOntario Premier Doug Ford tweeted that \u201cjustice must be served for the horrific act of hatred that took place.\u201d
\nBy late evening on Monday, a steady stream of mourners was seen arriving near the scene of the attack, dropping off flowers and saying prayers. One placard read: \u201cWhen does it stop? Enough.\u201d
\nA GoFundMe campaign in support of members of the victims\u2019 family had already raised almost C$120,000 ($99,000) in one hour.
\nA vigil has been organized at a local mosque on Tuesday night to remember the victims.
\n\u201cThis is a terrorist attack on Canadian soil, and should be treated as such,\u201d said Mustafa Farooq, head of the National Council of Canadian Muslims.
\nLondon, which has about 400,000 residents, has a large Muslim community and Holder said Arabic is the second-most-spoken language to English in the city.
\nThe teenage girl who was killed \u201cwill be deeply missed by fellow students and staff at Oakridge Secondary School,\u201d according to a school statement.
\nOne man who described himself as a neighbour in an interview with Global News, said he met with the family on holidays.
\n\u201cHe was a family guy, very much involved in the community, a regular member of our mosque, a really, really great father,\u201d the neighbour, who was not identified, said of Syed Afzaal. \u201cHe loved to walk with his family. Almost every evening, they walked.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A man accused of killing four members of a Canadian Muslim family after running them over in his pickup truck, targeted them in an attack motivated by hate, police said on Monday. Police in London, Ontario, citing witnesses, said that 20-year-old Nathaniel Veltman, jumped the curb in his vehicle on Sunday, struck five members of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-196760","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n