Vahe Minassian, father of Alek Minassian, is surrounded by members of the media as he leaves court with a police escort in Toronto on Tuesday, April 24, 2018. Alek Minassian, who plowed a van into a crowded Toronto sidewalk Monday was ordered held Tuesday on 10 counts of murder 13 of attempted murder. (Chris Young/The Canadian Press via AP) 
In this courtroom sketch, Duty counsel Georgia Koulis, from left, Alek Minassian, Justice of the Peace Stephen Waisberg, and Crown prosecutor Joe Callaghan appear in court in Toronto on Tuesday, April 24, 2018. Alek Minassian, who plowed a van into a crowded Toronto sidewalk, was ordered held Tuesday on 10 counts of murder and 13 of attempted murder. (Alexandra Newbould/The Canadian Press via AP) 
Police cars remain parked outside of of the Toronto area home of Alek Minassian in Richmond Hill, Ont., on Tuesday, April 24, 2018. Minassian, accused of driving a van into pedestrians along a stretch of a busy Toronto street, has been charged with 10 counts of first-degree murder and 13 counts of attempted murder. (Chris Young/The Canadian Press via AP) 
Police are seen near a damaged van after a van mounted a sidewalk crashing into pedestrians in Toronto on Monday, April 23, 2018. The van apparently jumped a curb Monday in a busy intersection in Toronto and struck the pedestrians and fled the scene before it was found and the driver was taken into custody, Canadian police said. (Aaron Vincent Elkaim/The Canadian Press via AP) 
A van with a damaged front-end sits idle on a sidewalk after the driver drove down a sidewalk crashing into a number of pedestrians in Toronto, Monday, April 23, 2018. The van apparently jumped a curb Monday in a busy intersection in Toronto and struck the pedestrians and fled the scene before it was found and the driver was taken into custody, Canadian police said. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP) 
People light candles at a makeshift memorial to the victims after a van mounted a sidewalk crashing into pedestrians in Toronto on Monday, April 23, 2018. The rented van jumped onto the crowded sidewalk Monday, killing and injuring people before the driver fled and was quickly arrested in a confrontation with police, Canadian authorities said. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP) 
Bouquets of flowers are placed at a makeshift memorial to the victims as a woman writes her condolences after a van mounted a sidewalk crashing into pedestrians in Toronto on Monday, April 23, 2018. The rented van jumped onto the crowded sidewalk Monday, killing and injuring people before the driver fled and was quickly arrested in a confrontation with police, Canadian authorities said. (Aaron Vincent Elkaim/The Canadian Press via AP) 
Officials carry a body into a vehicle after a van mounted a sidewalk crashing into pedestrians in Toronto on Monday, April 23, 2018. The rented van jumped onto the crowded sidewalk Monday, killing and injuring people before the driver fled and was quickly arrested in a confrontation with police, Canadian authorities said. (Aaron Vincent Elkaim/The Canadian Press via AP) 
Farzad Salehi consoles his wife, Mehrsa Marjani, who was at a nearby cafe and witnessed the aftermath when a van plowed down a crowded sidewalk, killing multiple people and injuring others, Monday, April 23, 2018, in Toronto. (Aaron Vincent Elkaim/The Canadian Press via AP) 
Emergency services close Yonge Street in Toronto after a van mounted a sidewalk crashing into a crowd of pedestrians on Monday, April 23, 2018. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP) 
Police officers stand by a covered body in Toronto after a van mounted a sidewalk and crashed into a crowd of pedestrians on Monday, April 23, 2018. The van apparently jumped a curb Monday in a busy intersection in Toronto, struck the pedestrians and fled the scene before it was found and the driver was taken into custody, Canadian police said. (Aaron Vincent Elkaim/The Canadian Press via AP)
TORONTO | Details have begun to emerge about Alek Minassian, who was charged Tuesday with 10 counts of first-degree murder and 13 of attempted murder for driving a van into a crowded sidewalk in Toronto. Here is a look at the 25-year-old suspect in one of the worst mass killings in Canada’s modern history.
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A YOUNG MAN FROM SUBURBAN TORONTO, AND A STUNNED FAMILY
Minassian lived with his family in the Toronto suburb of Richmond Hill, on a street of sizeable, well-tended brick homes. Police say he had no criminal record before Monday.
His father, Vahe Minassian, wept and seemed stunned as he watched as his son, showing little emotion, make a brief court appearance Tuesday and be ordered held without bail.
When his father was asked later whether he had any message for the families of the people killed and injured, he said quietly: “I’m sorry.”
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A “SOCIALLY AWKWARD” STUDENT
Minassian attended Seneca College, according to his LinkedIn profile; a spokeswoman for the Toronto-area school didn’t immediately respond to an inquiry about him Tuesday. Another student, Joseph Pham, told The Toronto Star that Minassian was in a computer programming class with him just last week.
Pham described Minassian as a “socially awkward” student who kept to himself: “He didn’t really talk to anyone.”
Before college, Minassian attended Thornlea Secondary School in Richmond Hill, graduating in 2011. A Thornlea classmate, Ari Blaff, told CBC News he recalls Minassian was “sort of in the background,” not the center of any particular group of friends.
“He wasn’t overly social,” Blaff told the news broadcaster.
Both Thornlea and Seneca declined to discuss him Tuesday.
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A STINT IN THE MILITARY
Minassian joined the Canadian Armed Forces last year, but his stay was brief.
The Department of National Defence says he was a member of the military from Aug. 23 to Oct. 25, but didn’t complete his recruit training. He asked to be voluntarily released after 16 days, the department said.
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A BITTERNESS TOWARD WOMEN?
Shortly before Monday’s attack on a crowded Toronto street, a chilling post appeared on Minassian’s now-deleted Facebook account saluting Elliot Rodger, a community college student who killed six people and wounded 13 in shooting and stabbing attacks near the University of California, Santa Barbara, before apparently shooting himself to death in 2014.
Calling Rodger “the Supreme Gentleman,” the Facebook post declared: “The Incel Rebellion has already begun! We will overthrow all the Chads and Stacys!”
The 22-year-old Rodger had used the term “incel” — for involuntarily celibate — in online posts raging at women for rejecting him romantically. Like-minded people in internet forums sometimes use “Chad” and “Stacy” as dismissive slang for men and women with more robust sex lives.
Monday’s Facebook post mentions that “Private (Recruit) Minassian” is speaking, and Facebook confirmed that the post was on an account that belonged to the suspect. The social networking site took down his account after the attack, saying in a statement Tuesday, “There is absolutely no place on our platform for people who commit such horrendous acts.”