A 24-year-old man has been charged They stabbed a professor and three other people. Police said it was a “hate-fueled incident” at a Canadian university’s gender studies department.
International student Giovanni Villalba-Aleman, who recently graduated from the University of Waterloo, “committed a premeditated and targeted attack motivated by hatred related to sexual expression and gender identity,” said Waterloo Regional Police Chief Mark Crowell. at a news conference Thursday.
“It’s unfortunate and troubling that this incident happened during Pride Month,” Crowell said. “We hope this event does not detract from these celebrations, but instead encourages us all to come together and continue to inspire love over hate.”
About 40 students were in a class in Hage Hall when the suspect allegedly stabbed a professor, a 38-year-old woman from Kitchener, and two students, a 20-year-old woman and a 19-year-old man. , said the police. All three victims suffered serious, but non-life threatening injuries.
Villalba-Aleman was not a participant in the class, but spoke to the professor, “before attacking him with two large knives without anger,” Crowell said.
According to the police chief, police officers responded quickly to the scene and were able to find the suspect in the building. At first, Villalba-Aleman tried to pretend to be the victim, but officers were able to identify him as the suspect based on the statements they made, he said.
Villalba-Aleman was charged with aggravated assault, assault with a weapon, possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose and misdemeanor under $5,000.
The investigation into the attack is ongoing and members of the Waterloo Regional Police Service’s General Investigations Unit, Major Crimes Unit, Investigative Services Unit, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Unit and Forensic Identification Unit are involved.
This article was originally published by NBCNews.com