By Staff
NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY
Constable Ken Lam
TORONTO — The Toronto police officer hailed as a hero after refusing to shoot the suspect in a van attack on April 23, has been identified as Constable Ken Lam.
People around the world are praising him for his bravery in the arrest of 25-year-old Alek Minassian, the man accused of killing 10 people and leaving 15 others seriously injured after driving a van into a crowd of people at a busy intersection.
Minassian was arrested by Lam — the son of a former Hong Kong police officer — in a confrontation lasting less than a minute and caught on video by bystanders.
“Get down,” Lam shouts repeatedly.
“Kill me,” the man tells Lam. “I have a gun in my pocket.”
Lam’s voice remains calm as he again orders the man to get down, warning that he will shoot if the man does not cooperate.
“Shoot me in the head,” Minassian replies.
Lam then begins advancing towards the suspect. Minassian steps backwards, dropping what he was holding and raising his hands in the air. Lam proceeded to single-handedly arrest the suspect.
David Lam, in an interview with Canadian television network Global, said “My son called me [and] told me, ‘Daddy, everything is fine. I arrested the suspect … I didn’t even fire any shots’.
“I said, ‘You did a good job.’”
Toronto Police Association President Mike McCormack said Lam is in his 30s and has been with the Toronto Police Service for seven years. Describing Lam as humble, McCormack told the local media that Lam had said he was only doing his job when he carried out the arrest.
Constable Ken Lam – what a hero! I read that Trainers in Crime De-escalation are thrilled that the entire incident was captured on film, with Lam exhibiting all the key elements of effective training. This film is bound to be a prime training example of a real encounter.