Afternoon testimony at the trial for the man accused of murdering four members of a Muslim family in Ontario was brief but graphic on Thursday, as the first officers at the scene of the June 6, 2021 attack took the stand.
Nathaniel Veltman — who has pleaded not guilty — is charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder, accused of deliberately hitting five members of the Afzaal family with his truck while they were out for a walk in London, Ont.
Const. Brock Dease said he and Const. Michael Olszowy were sitting in a cruiser parked at Brescia University College when they were called to respond to a vehicle hitting pedestrians at 8:43 p.m.
He directed Olszowy, who had only started with the London Police Service at the end of May and was on his 12th-ever shift, to drive to the area and says it was still light out and road conditions were “dry and good.”
Dease’s voice broke as he recalled arriving to find an officer performing CPR on a victim and another officer just arriving at the side of another victim.
After exiting the cruiser, he went to a third victim, an older woman lying on her back, appearing unconscious. He described gruesome injuries to her torso as well as what appeared to be broken limbs and “major facial injuries.”
People nearby screamed to him that a young boy needed help and, after making sure that Olszowy was good to continue life-saving measures on the woman, he went to the boy.
Dease said he was conscious, crying and asking questions. He then noticed a fifth victim who had no one attending to them. He went over to find what appeared to be a teenage girl, with eyes open.
“She seemed to be moving her head a little bit. However, she wasn’t moving any extremities.”
A paramedic arrived and together with a firefighter they braced her neck. He went back to Olszowy and learned that CPR had been stopped on the older woman.
He then went back to the young boy and helped him onto a stretcher.
After speaking with the first in command at the scene, he moved his cruiser to block traffic.
Olszowy took the stand next, but court broke for recess soon after, as he began discussing finding the older victim on scene.
When court resumed, his testimony quickly concluded.
Next, Const. Patti Leavoy-Costa testified that she was working 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. the night of the attack and was called to Cherryhill Mall to assist with the arrest.
She says she arrived at the parking lot to see the accused on his knees with his hands up on his head.
“What immediately caught my attention was the helmet,” she told court.
She parked in front of the pickup truck, to prevent it from moving, as at the time she didn’t know if anyone else was in the vehicle. She exited the vehicle and quickly glanced into the pickup truck to check, at which point she noticed a large knife in the pocket area on the door, in a sheath, and a pocket knife in the centre console area.
She said two other officers were with the accused, who she described as “very excitable, continuously yelling, and at one point appeared to be smiling.”
When the Crown asked who he was yelling at, she said initially it was to “more of the broader audience” but, at one point, there was a yelling match between the accused and one of the other officers.
At that point, the jury was dismissed for the day, with court resuming Friday.
Earlier in the day, court heard more from the detective who interviewed Veltman twice the night and morning after the attack.
Detective Micah Bourdeau says Veltman’s demeanour changed over time at the police station where he was held, with the accused becoming quieter and more subdued during his second interview — which took place about 13 hours after his arrest — compared with his first interview four hours after the attack, when Veltman was more talkative.
Bourdeau says Veltman declined during the second interview to answer questions about specifics or topics that appeared to be difficult for him to talk about.
The detective says he didn’t have any concerns about Veltman’s change in demeanour because it appeared to be normal, given the circumstances.
The trial has seen video of Veltman saying he was “shaken up” after the attack.
Jurors have also seen video of Veltman telling the detective he felt relieved after carrying out the attack, which he said was motivated by white nationalist beliefs.
Salman Afzaal, 46, his 44-year-old wife, Madiha Salman, their 15-year-old daughter, Yumna, and her 74-year-old grandmother, Talat Afzaal, were killed in the attack. The couple’s nine-year-old son was also seriously hurt but survived.
The trial, which is taking place in Windsor, Ont., is expected to last eight weeks.
With files from The Canadian Press.