TORONTO — 2018 · Major Tragedy

The Toronto Van Attack

SolvedSources: ALast updated: 14 October 2026

On the afternoon of 23 April 2018, in Toronto's North York City Centre, the driver of a rented van targeted pedestrians on the pavements of Yonge Street, starting at the Finch Avenue intersection and continuing south toward Sheppard Avenue. Eleven people were killed and 15 injured; nine of the dead were women. The 25-year-old driver, stopped just south of the scene, pretended to draw a weapon in an attempt to provoke police into shooting him, but an officer arrested him without firing. His declared allegiance to misogynist 'incel' circles led to the attack being debated as misogynist terrorism. The court rejected his not-criminally-responsible defence, and he was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2022.

Date: 2018
Place: North York, Ontario, Canada, Toronto, CA
Category: Major Tragedy
Case Status: Solved
Coordinates: 43.7710, -79.4140 ↗

Timeline of Events

23 April 2018A van struck pedestrians on Yonge Street; ten died at the scene.
23 April 2018The driver was arrested by an officer without a shot being fired.

March 2021The court rejected the not-criminally-responsible defence.
June 2022He was sentenced to life without parole for 25 years.

Sources

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