Toronto police officer praised for peaceful arrest of van attack suspect (VIDEO)

Apr 24 2018, 11:10 pm

The Toronto police officer who refused to shoot the man responsible for ploughing a van into a crowd of pedestrians is being praised for the peaceful way he handled the situation.

Dramatic video footage of the arrest shows the officer refusing to shoot the suspect —who has been identified as 25-year-old Alek Minassian.

In the intense scene, the officer has his gun drawn as the alleged driver of the van continually tries to force the officer to shoot him, pointing his cell phone at the officer like a gun and then faking as if he’s drawing a gun to shoot the officer. When this does not work the suspect yells, “I have a gun in my pocket.”

The officer remains calm, warning the man to get down or he’ll be shot, to which the suspect responds, “shoot me in the head.”

The suspect is eventually taken down and handcuffed with no shots fired.

WARNING: Some viewers may find the following content disturbing. 

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Video footage of the standoff has gone viral, and the officer has been commended on social media for remaining calm and not using excessive and deadly force — which has often been the case in several police incidents in the US.

Monday’s van attack in Toronto’s Yonge Street and Finch Avenue area left 10 people dead and 15 injured.

Police are now asking all witnesses who may have information regarding Monday’s attack to call their investigative hotline at 416-808-8750.

A web portal has also been created for witnesses to submit photos and videos, which can be found here.

With files from Ainsley Smith. 

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