Children are taken to a warming bus as parents wait for news after a bus crashed into a day care center in Laval, Quebec, on Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2023. (Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press via AP)
By Rob Gillies
Police have charged a bus driver with first-degree murder after he drove his vehicle at a high speed into a day care center north of Montreal, killing two children, injuring six and leaving authorities searching for a motive.
Witnesses say that after Wednesday's crash, the 51-year-old driver, identified as Pierre Ny St-Amand, stepped out of the bus, stripped off his clothes and started screaming.
“He was just yelling; there were no words coming out of his mouth,” Hamdi Benchaabane said.
A neighbor who ran to the center in Laval, Quebec, said she saw children screaming and crying and watched a mother collapse.
St-Amand is facing nine charges including first degree murder, attempted murder, aggravated assault and assault causing bodily harm. He appeared in court via video late Wednesday from a hospital room and will remain detained.
A senior Canadian government official said the crash was not a terrorist act and did not pose a threat to national security. The official spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.
The driver had worked for Societe de transport de Laval for 10 years. He had no criminal history and a clean work record, police officials and Laval Mayor Stéphane Boyer said at two separate news conferences.
“As of now, we don’t know the motive for the crime," police spokesperson Erika Landry said.
Boyer said "there is a theory that it was an intentional act, but that remains to be confirmed by the investigation,
Laval Police Chief Pierre Brochet said authorities are interviewing the driver.
The dead children were both 4 years old, identified in the documents only by their initials. Six children were hospitalized with injuries that were not life-threatening, Brochet said.
The day care is located at the end of a driveway off a cul-de-sac. There is a bus stop on the cul-de-sac, but the driver would have had to veer off the road and head down the long driveway to hit the building.
“There were no signs of skidmarks ... He went directly into the day care,” said another eyewitness, Mario Sirois.
Sirois' wife, Ginette Lamoureux, the neighbor who ran into the day care shortly after the crash, said the driver was hysterical.
“His eyes were like popping out,” she said.
Benchaabane said he and three parents had to strike the driver in order to subdue him, before police cuffed him.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his office was “following the situation closely.”
Members of Parliament observed a moment of silence in Ottawa.
Wearing a hospital gown and in a bed, St-Amand was alert but unresponsive during his video appearance as the judge and his lawyer tried to get him to speak. He only nodded his head a few times when asked by his lawyer, Julien Lespérance Hudon, if he understood he was appearing in a courtroom.
The case returns to court on Feb. 17.
Neighbors described the suspect as a quiet, pleasant father of two young girls. One man, Thanh-Ry Tran, said his family got together with the suspect’s family a few times a year, and their wives would sometimes help each other in picking up or dropping off children. He said the suspect had never shown signs of distress.
Another neighbor, Nader Abou-Said, said he would exchange pleasant greetings with the suspect, and would often see him playing with his daughters in the backyard.
“How can you go out and play with your kids and then go kill kids?” he said.
Dave Levinthal, deputy Washington Bureau chief at Insider, joins Cheddar News to discuss Gallup's new survey that reveals more Americans leaned Republican by the end of 2021.
L’Oréal is doubling down on its investment in tech. The French beauty giant unveiled two new high-tech products ahead of CES 2022, aimed at simplifying the hair coloring process. Guive Balooch, global vice president of L’Oréal Technology Incubator, joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss the company's innovations for hair coloring, including the Colorsonic application device and the Coloright AI diagnostic tool.
After meeting by chance in an airport, legendary actor Bill Murray and world-renowned cellist Jan Vogler joined forces to put out an album of poetry and music, go on a European concert tour, and release a feature documentary. Murray and Vogler joined Cheddar to dish about the experiences taking their “New Worlds: The Cradle of Civilization" on the road and filming the documentary that followed the pair, along with Mira Wang on violin and Vanessa Perez on piano, at their final show in Greece. "When this opportunity to play with Jan and Mira and Vanessa came along, I thought, well how bad can I be with these people behind me," Murray self-deprecatingly noted about his own musical talents.
On this episode of Cheddar Reveals: Director of Programs at Alpine Ascents breaks down how to mentally and physically prepare for climbing Mount Everest; American Himalayan Foundation's Vice President discusses Sherpa culture and ethos, and why they are so critical to the climb; A look at Curiosity Stream's 'History by the Numbers.'
All around the world, speed limits are placed on public roads to promote car safety and save lives. In that same world, car manufacturers have continued to look for ways to build faster and faster cars. Despite the dangers of speeding, many drivers are guilty of pushing the pedal from time to time. With cars being such a prevalent culture in everyday life, especially in the US, it’s worth wondering what it would take for car companies to once and for all settle the argument of safety versus freedom.
A recent study by MSI uncovers a vast racial divide in influencer marketing. The research found a 35% racial pay gap between white and black influencers. This gap is extremely wider than the gap in other industries such as education, business, and finance. The research also suggests that brands and agencies have the power to close this gap. Tiffany Hardin, founder and CEO of Gild Creative Group, joins Cheddar News to discuss.
Student loan collection company Navient agreed to cancel $1.7 billion in debt and paid more than $140 million in other penalties to settle a lawsuit over abusive lending practices. Josh Shapiro, the attorney general of Pennsylvania who led negotiations in the settlement, joined Cheddar to go over the details of the company's predatory lending. "What Navient would do is charge [borrowers] these exorbitantly high rates, even though they knew people couldn't pay them or they would likely default on them," he explained.
Retail platform operator and delivery company, Foxtrot,
raised $100 million in a Series C round led by D1 Capital Partners. Foxtrot bills itself as the modern convenience store that combines what it calls in-store curated discovery with 30-minute delivery and 5-minute pickup. Since launching first as a digital-only delivery service, the company has since grown into a popular local retailer, opening 16 brick and mortar locations across Chicago, Dallas, and Washington, DC. Foxtrot co-founder and CEO Michael LaVitola joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
