Eight women among 10 van massacre victims: police

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April 27, 2018 11:05 PM

Eight women were among the 10 pedestrians killed when a Canadian man with an apparent grudge against women drove a rented van onto a Toronto sidewalk earlier this week, police said Friday.

The deceased ranged in age from 22 to 94 years, and included a Jordanian man visiting his son in Toronto and a South Korean student, Inspector Bryan Bott, of the homicide squad, told a news conference.

He also said the confirmed number of people injured has risen to 16, and that two additional attempted murder charges would soon be laid to reflect that number.

The pair of newly identified injured -- a 21-year-old man and a 67-year-old woman -- had left the scene of the attack before emergency responders arrived but subsequently went to police, officials explained.

Alek Minassian, 25, was arrested on Monday near the scene of the rampage.

In a Facebook post just prior to the killing spree, he praised mass killer Elliot Rodger, a 22-year-old American who murdered six people and then killed himself in California in 2014.

Rodger had professed frustration over his virginity and women rejecting him.

The suspect's post also referred to the "Incel Rebellion," an abbreviation for "involuntarily celibate," often used in connection with online groups of sexually frustrated men who are known to rant against women.

"We will overthrow all the Chads and Stacys!" the post read, referring to monikers used in the community to describe people who have no trouble finding sexual partners.

He has been charged with 10 counts of premeditated murder, as well as attempted murder charges related to the injured survivors.

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