Two members of the Canadian armed forces were stabbed Monday at a military recruiting center in Toronto, and witnesses said the attacker was shouting jihad slogans.
Toronto Police Chief Mark Saunders told reporters, without specifying, that the 27-year-old suspect made remarks that, CNN reported, “caused concern.”
The Toronto Sun, citing “several police sources,” said witnesses heard words from the attacker that strongly implied he was a Muslim acting from religious motives.
“Some heard him say, ’Praise Allah’ and others heard ’Allah’ or ’Aly,’” a police source told the Sun. “Several heard the man use this terminology.”
A police source also told the Sun that “he appears to be of Middle Eastern decent and was presenting himself as if he is Muslim, but … all of that needs to be confirmed.”
Toronto police have called in terrorism experts to assist in their investigation.
The two stab victims were not identified. One was attacked as he manned the entry counter, and the second was stabbed as the attacker went into the rear of the building — the Joseph Shepard Building near the Yonge-Sheppard intersection in the North York neighborhood.
Military staffers at the center were quickly able to subdue the attacker and turn him over to police.
Neither soldier’s injuries were life-threatening, Chief Saunders said.
Muslims staged two fatal attacks in 2014 on members of the Canadian military at home.
A radicalized Muslim convert ran a car into Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec, and Cpl. Nathan Cirillo was shot dead by a Muslim believed to have Islamic State ties while guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier outside the Parliament building in Ottawa.
• Victor Morton can be reached at vmorton@washingtontimes.com.
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