Just before the deadly incident Monday, Minassian wrote on his Facebook page: "All hail the Supreme Gentleman Elliot Rodger!"
Here's what we know about Minassian:
Who is he?
- Minassian is 25 years old and from Richmond Hill, Ontario, Toronto Police Chief Mark Saunders said.
- He's due in court Wednesday at 10 a.m. ET, Saunders said.
- He allegedly drove for nearly a mile early Monday afternoon along Yonge Street, north of midtown Toronto, sometimes veering onto the sidewalk as he plowed a path of destruction, police said.
- He was unknown to Toronto authorities before this incident, Saunders said, noting: "There's nothing we have ... on him right now."
However, a US law enforcement official with knowledge of the matter said Minassian had been known to authorities.
- His "actions definitely look deliberate," Saunders said of the van rampage.
What about his motive?
- His motive is not yet clear.
- He is not being called a terrorist. "There would appear to be no national security connection," said Canada's Minister of Public Safety Ralph Goodale.
- Just before the van plowed down pedestrians, it appears Minassian lauded an American mass killer on his Facebook account, CNN law enforcement analyst Josh Campbell said.
"All hail the Supreme Gentleman Elliot Rodger!" reads the message on the account investigators believe belongs to Minassian, Campbell said.
Rodger killed six people and injured 14 others in a stabbing, shooting and vehicle-ramming attack in 2014 near the UC Santa Barbara campus.
Investigators noted that Rodger was motivated by a personal grievance related to the extremist ideological subculture of men's rights activists propagated in online forums, such as 4Chan, Campbell said. Supporters believe women don't want gender equality and have been brainwashed by feminist propaganda.
Rodger died from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.
How was he caught?
- Minassian was arrested in a white rental van less than 30 minutes after police got a 911 call about the deadly rampage, Saunders said.
- He may have engaged in a tense standoff with Toronto police before his arrest. A cell phone video obtained by CNN partner CTV appears to show a man standing in front of a white van with a damaged front bumper.
The man yells and extends one arm, pointing an object at an officer standing behind a black car.
The officer, his weapon drawn, points at the man. The officer slowly steps toward him and yells "Get down, get down!"
Later in the video, the man is seen on the ground as the officer cuffs his hands behind him; the object, which Saunders denied was a gun, can be seen lying on the ground.
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