Canada Officer Struck With Car Then Stabbed In Terrorist Attack
Follow CBSMIAMI.COM: Facebook | Twitter
EDMONTON, Canada (CBSMiami) -- A car and knife attack on a police officer outside a football game and a high-speed chase of a moving van that left four people injured are being investigated as acts of terrorism, Canadian authorities said Sunday.
Edmonton Police Chief Rod Knecht said officers took the suspect, later described as a 30-year-old Edmonton man, into custody and he is believed to have acted alone. Knecht said an Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) flag was found in the car that hit the officer, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called it a terror attack.
The attack began outside a Canadian Football League game at Commonwealth Stadium in the western city of Edmonton on Saturday night, when police say a white Chevrolet Malibu rammed a traffic control barricade and sent an officer flying 15 feet into the air.
Knecht said the driver then got out and attacked the officer with a knife before fleeing on foot.
The officer was taken to a hospital and treated for non-life-threatening injuries while a manhunt was launched. "It's not critical," Knecht said of the officer's condition.
A few hours later, a U-Haul van was stopped at an impaired driving checkpoint north of downtown, on Wayne Gretzky Drive. Knecht said the name of the driver was similar to the name of the registered owner of the car that hit the officer.
He said the van then sped off toward downtown with police in pursuit.
Police say the vehicle swerved at pedestrians at crosswalks throughout the chase. Four people were hurt, but the extent of their injuries was not immediately known.
The van eventually flipped near a downtown hotel and the suspect was arrested. Knecht said the man was known to police but did not release his name.
"It is believed at this time that these two incidents are related," Knecht said. "It was determined that these incidents are being investigated as acts of terrorism."
