Toronto driver charged with 10 counts of 1st degree murder

TORONTO (AP) — A 25-year-old who plowed a van into a crowded Toronto sidewalk was ordered held today on 10 counts of murder and 13 of attempted murder as Canadian authorities and the public sought to make sense of what appeared to be one of the deadliest mass murders in the country's modern history.

Alek Minassian showed little overt emotion as he made a brief appearance in a Toronto courtroom in a white jumpsuit and handcuffs. The judge ordered him detained without bond and scheduled the next hearing for May 10.

Police, meanwhile, still appeared to be gathering evidence. About 20 officers made their way down the van's deadly path on Yonge Street searching for any evidence. Nearby, mourners had put together a makeshift memorial to the victims.

"It was like he was playing a video game, trying to kill as many people as possible," said Panna Patel, 42, who stopped by the memorial and had been at the scene a day earlier, getting cash from an ATM as it occurred. "He was looking people directly in the eye, making eye contact, it was so scary. He wasn't remorseful at all."

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau dismissed the possibility of terrorism, saying that authorities see no national security element in the case.

He told a news conference the incident "hasn't changed the overall threat level in Canada," though it occurred as Cabinet ministers from the G7 nations were meeting in Toronto.