Police in Toronto, Canada, have identified Alek Minassian, 25, as the driver of a rented Ryder van that rammed into a crowd of people on Monday, April 23.
The vehicle was traveling at an accelerated speed when it jumped a curb and hit “everything in [its] path.” During a press conference held this evening, authorities confirmed that 10 people have died and 15 were injured.
Police say that Minassian fled the scene but was taken into custody a short while later. When police approached him, he appeared to have a gun in his hand. Although a motive is unclear at this time, officials believe that this was a deliberate act and not an accident.
#BREAKING Moments after hitting multiple pedestrians with the white van – the driver pulls what looks like a gun on police. No shots are fired. @TPS arrest him. #TorontoAttack @CTVNews
Minassian does not appear to have a huge presence on social media.
According to a LinkedIn account belonging to Minassian, he attended Seneca College from 2011-2018. It is unknown what he studied or where he worked.
LinkedInMinassian’s LinkedIn
Shortly after his name was released, a few photos of a Facebook page belonging to Alek Minassian started circulating online, but the page appears to have been taken down. When the page first started circulating, many people thought that it was fake. However, according to Jane Lytvynenko from Buzzfeed, that Facebook profile is legitimate and does belong to Minassian.
Based on the circulating screenshot, Minassian changed his profile photo on March 10. There was also a recent post that read:
“Private (Recruit) Minassian Infantry 00010, wishing to speak to Sgt 4chan please. C23249161. The Incel Rebellion has already begun! We Will overthrow all the Chads and Stacys! All hail the Supreme Gentleman Elliot Rodger!”
You can see a screenshot of Minassian’s Facebook page below.
We’ve just obtained this Facebook post from the accused Alek Minassian, suspected in the #yongeandfinch mass casualty. Posted early this afternoon. FYI Incel=involuntarily celibate. Elliot Rodger killed 6 ppl at UCSB in 2014 before killing himself @globalnewsto
Now, a search “Alek Minsassian” on Facebook will turn up a few pages that “match” the suspect’s identity, but it is believed that the accounts are fake.
You can see an example below.
There’s def. fake accounts of Alek Minassian on Facebook already.
Minassian doesn’t appear to have an Instagram account.
At one point in time, Minassian was an app developer. He created the Toronto Green Parking Advisor, available for free on Google Play. The app was meant to help people in Toronto search for parking spaces.
Google PlayMinassian App
“Download the setup package of Toronto Green Parking Advisor 1.0 that is completely free of charge and have a look at users’ reviews on Droid Informer. The app can be launched flawlessly on Android 4.1 and higher. This download is totally safe. Alek Minassian designed this application that lies within the Travel & Local category,” reads the app’s description on Droid Informer. The app was last updated in 2014.
Heavy was able to locate a Steam profile that is listed under the name Alek Minassian, but it doesn’t appear to be active. Steam is an entertainment platform, primarily used for gaming. It is unclear if this profile belongs to the same man that was taken into police custody this afternoon.
SteamSteam profile belonging to an Alek Minassian in Canada. It’s not yet known if this is the same person as the suspect.
“I love the Halo games. My favourite game is Halo 3 because it has matchmaking. My next favourite is ODST because Firefight is awesome! Halo Wars has matchmaking but I’m better at FPSs than RTSs. Halo 2 is a nice game even though Xbox Live Original has been discontinued. Good thing I downloaded all the maps! I also like Halo: CE because it is an EPIC classic. I also can’t wait for the release of Halo: Reach on September 14,” reads the bio. The account was last updated in 2010.
To read more about Minassian, click the link below:
