ISLAMABAD: A man driving a pick-up truck slammed into and killed four members of a Pakistani Muslim family in Canada´s Ontario province, in what police and officials said Monday was a premeditated attack motivated by “hatred”.
A 20-year-old suspect wearing a vest “like body armour” fled the scene on Sunday evening, and was arrested at a mall seven kilometres from the intersection in London, Ontario where the attack happened, said Detective Superintendent Paul Waight. “There is evidence that this was a planned, premeditated act, motivated by hate. It is believed that these victims were targeted because they were Muslim,” he told a news conference.
Canada´s Minister of Public Safety Bill Blair described it as a “horrific act of Islamophobia.” “They believe the family was targeted because of their faith, and that the attacker was motivated by his hatred of Muslims,” he said.
The victims have been identified as Madiha Salman, age 44, who had done post-graduate work in the field of civil and environmental engineering at Western University in London, as well as her husband, Salman Afzaal, age 46. Their 15-year-old daughter, Yumna Salman, was also killed as well as Afzaal’s mother, age 74.