An Amqui resident turned himself in instantly after the ramming and is going through homicide expenses, police stated. He was due in court docket later Tuesday, provincial police Sgt. Claude Doiron stated.
An preliminary investigation suggests the motive force swerved from one facet of the highway to the opposite to hit victims chosen at random and ranging in age from lower than one 12 months to 77, Doiron stated.
Gérald Charest, 65, and Jean Lafrenière, 73, had been killed throughout the alleged assault.
Three of the injured had been in essential situation, police stated. The injured additionally embrace two youngsters — one who’s lower than one 12 months outdated and one other who’s about three — who had been each significantly damage however whose lives usually are not in peril.
A senior authorities official conversant in the matter stated the incident was not terrorism or associated to nationwide safety. The official spoke on situation of anonymity as they weren’t approved to talk publicly on the matter.
A number of ambulances swarmed to the scene after the ramming came about about 3 p.m.
Truck driver Alain Gilbert stated he was driving into Amqui when an ambulance raced previous him earlier than nearly instantly pulling over to take care of an individual mendacity on the sidewalk. As he drove, Gilbert noticed extra ambulances and extra folks on the bottom — about 4 or probably 5 folks unfold over a distance of about 500 meters (yards), he stated.
Regional well being authorities within the Decrease St-Lawrence area confirmed six of the injured had been transported by airplane to a Quebec Metropolis hospital.
Final month in Laval, Quebec, police stated a person driving a metropolis bus intentionally smashed right into a daycare heart, killing two youngsters.
In 2021, a person used a pickup to kill 4 members of an immigrant household in London, Ontario, in what Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stated was a hate crime directed at Muslims.
In 2018, a person in a van rampaged by pedestrians in Toronto, killing 10 folks. Alek Minassian was discovered responsible of 10 counts of first-degree homicide and 16 counts of tried homicide. Minassian, 28, advised police he belonged to an internet neighborhood of sexually pissed off males, a few of whom have plotted assaults on individuals who have intercourse.