Last Monday on April 23, Alek Minassian drove a rental van down Yonge Street killing 10 people and injuring at least 13 more. This week I will be writing my thoughts and opinion on this incident.
The deceased victims’ ages ranged from 22 to 94. Two of them were foreign, one being a Korean international student and the other was a Jordanian citizen visiting his son. I’m sure the families and the public were very shocked with the incident and the families that were directly affected have my condolences. Slowly, the area of the scene is returning back to normal, but even then we should still remember that these types of things can occur and we should remain vigilant.
As for Alek Minassian however, he cannot be forgiven for what he has done and it is still unclear as to what his motives were. Another thing to consider though are the parents of the suspect, Sona and Vahe Minassian. So far the Minassian family has been trying to keep attention away from themselves, but Vahe Minassian was in the courtroom when charges were pressed. Soon after he left reporters and interviews surrounded him, but he only replied with “I’m sorry” to the questions. It seems like the parents also don’t understand why their son did what they did, but if I were them I would ultimately feel responsible for the actions of Alek Minassian.
Overall, this was a tragic incident that doesn’t seem to happen in very often in Toronto and when you think of attacks you don’t really think that much about Toronto or Canada in general. However, I think this is a reminder that these types of incidents can happen anywhere and that we should all take precautions and stay safe.