Police in Waterloo are investigating what led to a stabbing at the city’s main university that sent three people to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
The incident at the University of Waterloo has shaken the school community, and has left many seeking answers.
Police say that a 24-year-old international student was taken into custody in what investigators are describing as a hate-motivated crime.
Here’s what we know so far.
What happened?
Waterloo police chief Mark Crowell provided a timeline for the stabbing incident on Thursday afternoon.
He told reporters that the suspect had entered into the classroom before he spoke with the professor to confirm that it was a class on gender identity.
“The accused was not a member of the class but spoke with the professor in the classroom before attacking her with two large knives without provocation,” Crowell alleged.
The chief said that some students threw chairs and other items at the suspect as others fled the scene.
“Several students attempted to stop the attack while others fled the room while students were trying to escape,” he explained.
“The accused stabbed two students and attempted to stab a third student who was not physically injured as a result of the attack.”
Police and students at the University of Waterloo on Wednesday.
Crowell said that several people on campus quickly called 911 to report that the incident was occurring on the university campus.
“We were on campus and on scene within three minutes,” he said.
The chief said the suspect then attempted to pose as a victim to evade being arrested.
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“The information I have is that once the initial attacks occurred that you can imagine a flurry of movement and activity and that he sought to blend in and essentially to hide in plain sight,” Crowell offered.
“Thankfully, because of excellent witness information, we had a good description of who the individual was, and we’re able to identify that was a suspect.”
In a tweet at around 4:50 p.m., the school said there was “no further threat to our campus community,” and asked people in Hagey Hall to vacate “immediately.”
Who is the suspect?
On Thursday, Waterloo Regional Police announced that Geovanny Villalba-Aleman had been charged in connection to what investigators believe was a hate-motivated attack.
“The accused targeted a gender-studies class and investigators believe this was a hate-motivated incident related to gender expression and gender identity,” police said in a release.
The 24-year-old international student is facing a number of charges including aggravated assault, assault with a weapon, possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose and mischief under $5,000.
They say there were 40 people in the classroom at the time of the attack with the victims being the professor, “a 38-year-old Kitchener female, and two students, a 20-year-old Waterloo female and a 19-year-old Waterloo male.”
The trio of victims were all left with serious but non-life threatening injuries, according to police.
Crowell told reporters at a press conference on Thursday that investigators believe that the suspect acted alone.
“At this point, there’s no information to suggest that the suspect coordinated with anyone else in carrying out this attack,” the chief said.
He said that Villalba-Aleman has no criminal history.
A spokesperson for the university told Global News that he graduated from the school in 2022.
Students at the university told Global News the stabbing occurred during a gender studies class.
According to the University of Waterloo’s program website, the gender and social justice program is run through the department of philosophy, with the administrative staff for the philosophy department handling admissions, program details and queries for the program.
Shortly after the incident, the school cancelled all remaining classes scheduled to take place at Hagey Hall on Wednesday.
What is going on now?
An investigation into the incident and the motive continues as Crowell said Thursday that police were working to obtain a warrant to search Villalba-Aleman’s home.
The University of Waterloo is working to provide support to those impacted by the incident, spokesperson Nick Manning said Wednesday.
He added counsellors from the Canadian Mental Health Association will be at the university to provide support as needed.
At 3:15 p.m. Eastern, the school community will gather in the university’s arts quad in recognition of the attack and trauma the community has endured, the school said on Twitter. Remarks are scheduled to begin at 3:30 p.m., followed by a moment of silence at 3:37 p.m.
James Rush, vice-president academic and provost at the University of Waterloo, said in a statement Thursday that Hagey Hall is open and all classes and other activities scheduled will proceed as planned.
Rush confirmed the stabbing happened in a gender studies class. He also said the school’s emergency alert system, despite being tested earlier in the day, “did not activate as quickly as we would all have expected.”
“One of our priorities in assessing how we can better support you in future will be to look again at WatSAFE and our emergency notification systems to ensure we have processes that work as expected when we need them,” he said.
“I acknowledge that many people will speculate about the motivation for this attack; we must be patient and have confidence in the judicial process. I urge you to focus your energy on supporting one another during this very traumatic time.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called the incident “horrifying and unacceptable.”
“This type of violence must always be condemned,” he said on Twitter.
“Our thoughts are with the professor and two students who were injured.”
— with files from Global News’ Hannah Jackson
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