Nathaniel Veltman: the London truck attack, conviction and sentence

In short

Nathaniel Veltman, who was 20 at the time, was convicted of four counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder. On June 6, 2021, he drove a pickup truck into a Muslim family of Pakistani origin at an intersection in London, Ontario, killing four members of the family and seriously injuring a child. A jury sitting in Windsor, Ontario, returned the verdicts on November 16, 2023, in the first murder trial in Canada to involve terrorism charges. On February 22, 2024, Justice Renee Pomerance ruled that the crimes were terrorist activity and imposed five life sentences, with no parole eligibility for 25 years on the murder counts.

What happened

At about 8:40 p.m. on Sunday, June 6, 2021, five members of one family were waiting to cross at the intersection of Hyde Park Road and South Carriage Road, in the Hyde Park area of northwest London. They had been out for an evening walk. Police said the driver of a black pickup truck heading south on Hyde Park Road went up onto the sidewalk and struck them, then drove away at high speed.

The family had come to Canada from Pakistan, most of them in 2007. A 74-year-old grandmother died at the scene. A 46-year-old man, his 44-year-old wife and their teenage daughter were taken to hospital, where they died. The couple's young son was seriously hurt and survived. Police said there was no known previous connection between the driver and the family. The attack was the deadliest mass killing in the city's history.

The investigation and charges

About five minutes after the collision, the driver stopped in the parking lot of Cherryhill Village Mall, at Cherryhill Boulevard and Oxford Street West, several kilometres from the intersection. He went up to a taxi driver, said he had killed someone and told him to call police. The taxi driver called 911 and waved down a passing cruiser, and the man surrendered to London police at about 8:46 p.m. Police said he was wearing a vest that looked like body armour.

He was first held for dangerous operation of a motor vehicle; charges of first-degree murder and attempted murder followed within minutes. By June 7, he faced four counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder. That day, London Police Chief Steve Williams said the family had been targeted because of their Islamic faith, and Detective Superintendent Paul Waight said there was evidence of a planned, premeditated act motivated by hate.

After speaking with a lawyer, Veltman was questioned in the early hours of June 7 by Detective Micah Bourdeau, who repeatedly reminded him of his right to counsel and his right to remain silent. In the recorded interview, later shown to the jury, Veltman called his actions a terrorist attack, said his motives were political, said he had identified the family as Muslim by their clothing and said he hoped to inspire others. He told the detective he had read the manifestos of the perpetrators of the 2011 Norway attacks and the New Zealand mosque attacks, and he had written his own text, titled A White Awakening, which expressed hostility toward Muslims and immigration. In a second interview later that morning, he said much less.

After consulting the RCMP, Ontario's Ministry of the Attorney General and the Public Prosecution Service of Canada, police said they would pursue terrorism charges and that they believed he had acted alone. On June 14, 2021, the charges were amended to include terrorism.

The trial and the verdict

Veltman first appeared in court by audio link on June 7, 2021, and appeared again on June 10 without a lawyer, so the case was put over to give him time to retain one. On July 25, 2022, the presiding judge ordered the trial moved out of London because of the intense local coverage and concerns about finding an impartial jury there. In January 2023, Regional Senior Justice Bruce Thomas scheduled the trial for September 2023 in Windsor.

The trial opened on September 5, 2023, and Veltman pleaded not guilty to all counts. Many details of the evidence were covered by a publication ban during the trial; the ban on that evidence was lifted on November 16, 2023, when testimony ended and the jury was sequestered. After about six hours of deliberation, the jury found Veltman guilty of four counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder. The verdict carried a minimum sentence of 25 years in prison.

Sentence, appeals and parole

At a hearing on December 1, 2023, the judge set a sentencing hearing in London for January 4 and 5, 2024, which was expected to include a large number of victim impact statements and the judge's findings on terrorism. On February 22, 2024, Justice Renee Pomerance ruled that Veltman's crimes constituted terrorist activity under Canadian law, calling it a textbook case. She imposed five life sentences: four for the murders, each with no possibility of parole for 25 years, and one for the attempted murder of the surviving child.

On June 6, 2025, Veltman filed an appeal. It argues that the judge should not have admitted the ideological evidence, including his manifesto; that his statements to police should have been excluded because, the defence says, his Charter rights were breached; and that the judge should have granted a mistrial over language used in the Crown's closing address. The sources do not report a decision on the appeal, and the convictions stand.

What the case changed

The House of Commons observed a moment of silence, and on June 11, 2021, MPs from all parties unanimously adopted a motion by London–Fanshawe NDP MP Lindsay Mathyssen calling on the federal government to hold an emergency national action summit on Islamophobia before the end of July. On June 8, 2021, the prime minister's national security adviser, Vincent Rigby, cited the attack as an example of ideologically motivated violent extremism, which he described as Canada's most deadly extremist threat.

The case was the first murder trial in Canada involving terrorism charges. A retired London police chief, Murray Faulkner, noted that Canada's terrorism laws are mainly designed to prevent imminent threats rather than to prosecute completed acts, which made the charges unusual.

Timeline

• June 6, 2021: A pickup truck strikes a family at Hyde Park Road and South Carriage Road in London at about 8:40 p.m.; four people die and a child is seriously injured. The driver surrenders to police at a mall minutes later.
• June 7, 2021: Nathaniel Veltman is charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder and is interviewed by police; he appears in court by audio link.
• June 8, 2021: Thousands attend a vigil at the London Muslim Mosque.
• June 10, 2021: Court appearance without a lawyer; the case is adjourned.
• June 11, 2021: The House of Commons unanimously calls for an emergency summit on Islamophobia.
• June 14, 2021: The charges are amended to include terrorism.
• July 25, 2022: The judge orders the trial moved out of London.
• January 2023: The trial is scheduled for September 2023 in Windsor.
• September 5, 2023: The trial opens; Veltman pleads not guilty.
• November 16, 2023: The jury finds him guilty on all five counts; the publication ban on trial evidence is lifted.
• February 22, 2024: Justice Renee Pomerance finds the crimes were terrorist activity and imposes five life sentences.
• June 6, 2025: Veltman files an appeal.

Sources

• 4 killed in London, Ont. attack likely targeted for being Muslim, police say | Globalnews.ca
• MPs unanimously back call for emergency summit on Islamophobia after London, Ont. attack | Globalnews.ca
• ‘I’m going to commit a terrorist attack:’ Video shows London police interview with accused | Globalnews.ca
• London attack was latest of Canada’s ‘most deadly’ form of extremism, national security adviser says | Globalnews.ca