Monday 2 October 2017

CANADA: Edmonton Terror Attack, Terrorist Stabs Policeman

Police released video footage of a 30-year-old suspect ramming a van into a police car - sending Constable Mike Chernyk flying 15ft into the air.

The driver then gets out and repeatedly knifes the officer, who wrestles the suspect to the ground and then rises as the suspect flees on foot.

The officer was taken to a hospital and treated for non-life-threatening injuries while a manhunt was launched.

Edmonton Mayor Don Iveson said: To the best of our knowledge, this was a lone wolf attack.

Seeing the video is very upsetting because of the level of violence and level of intent.

Canadian police say the suspect being quizzed over two vehicle attacks in Edmonton on Saturday night is a Somali national seeking refugee status.

He remains in custody, while the officer and four pedestrians are treated for their injuries.

After ploughing the vehicle through a barricade to hit the officer, the suspect then jumped out the car and knifed the cop several times and fled on foot as a dramatic manhunt was launched.

Police chased down the attacker as he drove through the packed out streets in downtown Edmonton.

He then ploughed into four pedestrians leaving them with multiple injuries before he was arrested after flipping the van on to its side.

Edmonton Police Chief Rod Knecht said the incidents are being investigated as an act of terror and that the attacker acted alone.

The rented van had an ISIS flag in the front seat, he confirmed.

Dramatic photos showed the U-Haul on its side with the windscreen smashed out.

Police spokesman Scott Pattison said: The officer was approached by an unknown male suspect in a vehicle, at which time the suspect rammed the police cruiser.

The suspect got out of his vehicle and an altercation ensued.

The officer sustained some injuries, he’s in hospital, and thankfully he’s doing OK.

A huge road block was set up as police pursued the terror suspect during Saturday night's attack.

The streets had been full of revellers packing out pubs to watch the football.

The stabbed cop had been working routine traffic control near Commonwealth Stadium as thousands gathered to watch a Canadian Football League game.

It was military appreciation night at the football game between the Edmonton Eskimos and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

Canada's chief of defense staff, Gen. Jonathan Vance, conducted the pregame coin flip and two CF-18 fighter jets did a fly-past before kickoff. More than 800 Boy Scouts were expected at the game.

Trudeau said in a statement that Canadians stand with the people of Edmonton after the terrorist attack on Saturday that sent an Edmonton Police Service officer to hospital and injured a number of innocent people who were out to cheer on their football team and to enjoy an evening in their city.

We cannot and will not let violent extremism take root in our communities. We know that Canada's strength comes from our diversity, and we will not be cowed by those who seek to divide us or promote fear, Trudeau said.

A Public Safety Department spokesman said the national terrorism threat level for Canada remains at medium, where it has stood since the week a gunman stormed Parliament in Ottawa in fall 2014. The man killed a soldier at the national war memorial before being shot dead inside Parliament.

In France on Sunday, a man with a knife attacked people at the main train station in the southeastern city of Marseille, killing two women before being fatally shot by soldiers, officials said.


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