The Waterloo Regional Police said that Geovanny Villalba-Aleman, a foreign student who had been studying at the University of Waterloo, faces three counts of aggravated assault, four counts of assault with a weapon and two counts of possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose.
Waterloo Police Chief Mark Crowell said the suspect, who has already been questioned by police, said he wanted to make a “proclamation” about gender identity and had asked the teacher to verify that the class was about gender studies before attacking.
A 38-year-old teacher, a 20-year-old student and a 19-year-old student were taken to hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries. About 40 students were in the class at the time.
Several students tried to stop the attack, even throwing chairs at the assailant, while others fled the classroom. The man initially posed as a victim before police identified and arrested him, Crowell said.
Crowell stressed that the authorities have detected an increase in incidents motivated by intolerance towards the LGBTQ+ community.
“This is a concerning trend that we have seen, especially during Pride month,” Crowell said. “I think we all know that there is a polarization in society right now.”
The detainee, who has no criminal record, appeared in court for a bond hearing on Thursday.
Nick Manning, associate vice president for communications at the University of Waterloo, revealed that the suspect graduated from the university at the end of the fall 2022 semester. Manning added that the stabbing occurred during a Philosophy 202 class, which according to the website of the university, focuses on “gender issues”.
A description on the subject’s website states that it will “examine the construction of gender in the history of Philosophy through contemporary debates. What is gender? How do we “do” gender? How can we “undo” gender, and do we want to?”
“Our entire community is really concerned that this could happen here. It’s a huge impact,” Manning said.
Some students questioned why it took hours for them to receive an emergency alert about what had happened.
Mara Crassweller, a graduate student, said the university’s emergency alert reached her three hours after the stabbings. Brianna Egan, a 23-year-old accounting student, said her class in the same building as the gender studies conference ended minutes before Wednesday’s stabbing.
“To be honest, it was a bit scary, especially with the time it took for the university to respond,” she said.
James Rush, the university’s vice president, acknowledged that the alert system “did not go off as quickly as we would normally have expected,” even though it was tested on Wednesday.
“It was a very unfortunate delay,” Rush said.
In a statement, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called the stabbings “horrifying and unacceptable.”
“This type of violence must always be condemned. Our thoughts are with the teacher and the two students who were injured,” she said.
FUENTE: Associated Press
