Alek Minassian, a 25-year-old Richmond Hill, Ont., man is shown in this image from his LinkedIn page. A man accused of driving a van into pedestrians along a stretch of a busy Toronto street has been charged with 10 counts of first-degree murder. Alek Minassian, of Richmond Hill, Ont., is also facing 13 counts of attempted murder. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO
The man accused in a van attack that left 10 people dead in Toronto was briefly a member of the Canadian Armed Forces last year, a government spokeswoman said.
Alek Minassian was a member of the forces from Aug. 23, 2017 until Oct. 25, 2017, a spokeswoman with the Department of National Defence said.
"He did not complete his recruit training and requested to be voluntarily released from the CAF after 16 days of recruit training," said Jessica Lamirande.
Minassian, a 25-year-old from Richmond Hill, Ont., was charged on Tuesday with 10 counts of first-degree murder and 13 counts of attempted murder.
Ten people were killed and 15 people injured after a van mounted a sidewalk and drove into pedestrians along a busy stretch of a north Toronto street on Monday afternoon.
Minassian had attended Thornlea Secondary School in Richmond Hill, graduating in 2011, according to school officials, who declined to provide further details.
A LinkedIn page with Minassian's name and photograph lists him as a student at Seneca College from 2011 to this year.
The area surrounding Minassian's Richmond Hill, Ont., home, just 20 minutes north of where the van incident took place, was cordoned off with police tape on Tuesday morning, with officers entering the home a few times to speak to someone inside.
The few neighbours that were around said they didn't know the family well, but had noticed that its members kept to themselves.
