Four killed in ‘targeted’ attack on Muslims in Ontario, Canada

Canada, 8 June. Police say victims were from the same family and that the attacker hit them with a pick-up truck Members of three generations of a Muslim family have been killed in the Canadian city of London, Ontario, in what police are calling a “targeted” attack. “Based on information collected during the course of the investigation, we believe that this was an intentional act,” London Police Chief Steve Williams said on Monday afternoon. “We believe the victims were targeted because of their Islamic faith.” Police say a driver in a black pick-up truck jumped a curb and struck five members of the same family late Sunday evening. A woman in her 70s, a man and woman in their 40s, and a girl, 15, were killed in the attack. A child, 9, struck by the vehicle is in hospital with serious injuries. Police arrested the suspected driver of the pick-up truck about seven kilometres from the scene of the crime. He has been charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder. The attack has shocked the city of 400,000 residents, 200km south-west of Toronto. “Words fail on a day as dark as this,” said the city’s Mayor, Ed Holder. “I grieve for the family, three generations of whom are now deceased. I grieve for their loved ones. I pray for the child.” The driver, who police say was wearing a bulletproof vest at the time of his arrest, appeared in court by video on Monday afternoon. “This is a terrorist attack on Canadian soil and should be treated as such,” said Mustafa Farooq, chief executive of the National Council of Canadian Muslims. “We call on the government to prosecute the attacker to the fullest extent of the law, including considering terrorist charges.”