On the first unseasonably warm day of the year, a bustling area in north Toronto sees a variety of pedestrians out enjoying the sun: mothers push strollers, teens leaving school chat in groups and office workers in suits gather outside for their lunch breaks. There are few visible signs that the deadliest attack in Toronto's history - and one of Canada's worst mass murders - took place on this stretch of Yonge Street on a similarly sunny day five years ago, when a man deliberately drove a rented van down a busy sidewalk on April 23, 2018.
TORONTO - On the first unseasonably warm day of the year, a bustling area in north Toronto sees a variety of pedestrians out enjoying the sun: mothers push strollers, teens leaving school chat in groups and office workers in suits gather outside for their lunch breaks.
“That's what I have in my head every time I work here and walking around here. I cannot get rid of it.”He had stepped out of a subway station after attending classes at Seneca College to find covered bodies on the street and a stretch of road closed by police. Frank Herbert, who frequents Mel Lastman Square in the area, says he saw multiple pedestrians get hit that day.“I saw the van, people falling down. I ran out to help. It was almost unbelievable that someone would do that,” he says. “It's like an open wound.”
The 37-year-old, who grew up in the area, says he feels residents in the community are now more guarded. Originally formed to support victims, their families and affected community members, it's evolved to have a broader mandate of maintaining the community connections forged in the aftermath of the attack. It has since joined the NeighbourLink North York charity.
The presiding judge found Minassian carried out the van attack to achieve notoriety. He was sentenced to life in prison last year with no possibility of parole for 25 years. He's appealing his conviction.
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