Four Family People Hitted To Death by Pickup Because They Are Muslim

ONTARIO – A man driving a pick-up truck rammed into death a four-person Muslim family in the southern province of Ontario, Canada . Local police said this incident was a hate crime that had been planned by the perpetrators.

The 20-year-old suspect wore a body armor vest during the action. He fled the scene after the attack on Sunday night.

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Detective Inspector Paul Waight said the suspect was arrested at a mall seven kilometers from the intersection in London, Ontario where the attack took place.

“There is evidence that this was a premeditated, premeditated act, motivated by hatred. It is believed that these victims were targeted because they are Muslims,” ​​he told a news conference.

The names of the victims were not released, but they include a 74-year-old woman, a 46-year-old man, a 44-year-old woman and a 15-year-old girl.

The local mayor, Ed Holder, said the victims represented three generations of the same family.

A nine-year-old boy was also hospitalized after the attack and is recovering.

“Let me be clear, this is an act of mass murder committed against Muslims, against Londoners, rooted in unspeakable hatred,” Holder said.

Identified as Nathaniel Veltman, the suspect has been charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder.

Waight said local authorities were also working with federal police and the attorney general to add “possible terrorism charges”.

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At around 8:40 p.m. on Sunday local time, according to police, five family members were walking together along the sidewalk when a black pick-up truck pulled into the sidewalk and hit the victims as they waited to cross the intersection.

Waight did not provide some details of the investigation, but noted that the suspect’s social media posts were reviewed by police.

The attack, which brought back painful memories of the mass shooting at a Quebec City mosque in January 2017 and the car attack in Toronto that killed 10 people in April 2018, drew a swift public reaction.

The Canadian Muslim National Council said in a statement that it was horrified and demanded justice for the family who had just taken a walk on a warm spring evening.

“Hate and Islamophobia has no place in Ontario,” Ontario Prime Minister Doug Ford wrote on Twitter. “This heinous act of violence must stop,” he was quoted as saying AFP, Tuesday (8/6/2021).

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