Numerous casualties in downtown Toronto incident....

[Dythbringer]

Never mind suicide by cops, this country has got to re-instate the death penalty. This guy has got to pay for what he did, and I don't mean life imprisonment.

There is a video where the suspect is telling the police officer who eventually de-escalated the scene to shoot him (the suspect). This guy wanted to die after what he did. I don't think we oblige him. Let him rot slowly in prison. That will be worse than killing him.

[Dythbringer]

I can. Most of our guys and gals know "suicide by cop" when they see it. Our people aren't as quick on the trigger as other countries. Intel sources say the air waves are very quiet from the usual suspects. This clown might be another village idiot.

Apparently some of the US commentators aren't believing the officer didn't use deadly force. Michael Lyman (professor of Criminal Justice Administration at Columbia College of Missour) stated "Assuming the suspect is holding a gun and pointing it toward officers, it is concerning that the officer is not engaging the suspect with deadly force,". The problem with this type of thinking is that the commentators are assuming the suspect is holding a gun. I will give what the officer the benefit of the doubt that he did the correct actions because I wasn't there. I didn't see what the officer saw. It is a very real possibility that the officer observed what the suspect had in his hand and made the determination (based on the shape of the object or even the body language of the suspect) that this was a situation where the suspect wanted to die by the police's actions. The first course of action by a police officer to any situation doesn't always have to end up with a dead suspect like a lot of US commentators are suggesting.

[last5oh_302]

Whether it was or wasn't a terrorist attack, it isn't so far fetched to believe each and every event like this is a terrorist attack the way Soy Boy is letting people into this country. It's only a matter of time.

[Dythbringer]

Whether it was or wasn't a terrorist attack, it isn't so far fetched to believe each and every event like this is a terrorist attack the way Soy Boy is letting people into this country. It's only a matter of time.

Poor form bringing politics into this.

[manyo]

Apparently some of the US commentators aren't believing the officer didn't use deadly force. Michael Lyman (professor of Criminal Justice Administration at Columbia College of Missour) stated "Assuming the suspect is holding a gun and pointing it toward officers, it is concerning that the officer is not engaging the suspect with deadly force,". The problem with this type of thinking is that the commentators are assuming the suspect is holding a gun. I will give what the officer the benefit of the doubt that he did the correct actions because I wasn't there. I didn't see what the officer saw. It is a very real possibility that the officer observed what the suspect had in his hand and made the determination (based on the shape of the object or even the body language of the suspect) that this was a situation where the suspect wanted to die by the police's actions. The first course of action by a police officer to any situation doesn't always have to end up with a dead suspect like a lot of US commentators are suggesting.

If you watch the video, it's obvious Alek Minassian isn't holding a gun by the officer's demeanour. The cop even takes a moment to turn off his cruiser's siren -- who would do that if a gun was pointed at them? I think most people think that it's a cellphone he's brandishing.

[terrym]

At this point there is no reason to believe this was a terrorist. We also can't blame the van. Pretty sure the driver is responsible.
As for the takedown, the cop did great work and should be commended. Pretty obvious the madman had planned to go down to police fire.

[Dythbringer]

If you watch the video, it's obvious Alek Minassian isn't holding a gun by the officer's demeanour. The cop even takes a moment to turn off his cruiser's siren -- who would do that if a gun was pointed at them? I think most people think that it's a cellphone he's brandishing.

I have seen also seen the video and while we can judge by the officer's reaction that the object isn't a gun, in that instance, the officer has to make a snap decision whether this person has a firearm and if so, whether the person is going to use said firearm. We have the ability to look at his actions after the fact, the officer doesn't have that luxury. Coupled with that he is right at the scene where this person decided to mow down all those innocent people, it would take an extreme amount of courage and restraint not to the allow this person to die by police.

I think this officer did a great job and made the correct decision until evidence points otherwise. We don't live in the US. Our police officers aren't US police officers. US commentators can't judge our police services based on their laws and procedures.

[rick_iles]

The officer did an excellent job. The fact that he left cover makes me think he saw the guy wasn’t armed with a firearm....

[manyo]

Yeah the cop is obviously well-trained and performed superbly. I'm just saying that it seems to me that no mortal human being would act the way he did if he thought a gun was being pointed at him. Has to be a cellphone. I am so proud of that cop and the rest of them too. If the accused had died, we might never know the truth of this.

They've had Yonge from Finch to Sheppard closed since the attack, and it looks like they're starting to clean. They're not taking any changes, it looks like -- they're going to decontaminate the whole stretch. I guess that makes sense -- there are a lot of people who could come in contact with anything there.

[fishermccann]

At this point there is no reason to believe this was a terrorist. We also can't blame the van. Pretty sure the driver is responsible.
As for the takedown, the cop did great work and should be commended. Pretty obvious the madman had planned to go down to police fire.

The only way to stop him is, a good guy with a van.