A man accused of mowing down five members of the same family with a black pickup truck in an Ontario city on Sunday, killing four and seriously injuring a 9-year-old boy, targeted them because they were Muslim, police said Monday, in what the city’s mayor branded an act of “mass murder.”
Police said the victims, who were struck while waiting to cross an intersection on a warm and clear Sunday evening in London, Ontario, included a 74-year-old woman, a 46-year-old man, a 44-year-old woman, and a 15-year-old girl. The 9-year-old boy is in the hospital with severe but not life-threatening injuries.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a tweet that he was “horrified” by the news.
“To the Muslim community in London and Muslims across the country, know that we stand with you,” he wrote. “Islamophobia has no place in any of our communities. This hate is insidious and despicable - and it must stop.”