Tears, horrified silence as court views moment city bus rams into Quebec daycare

Morgan Lowrie · The Canadian Press

· Posted: Apr 07, 2025 3:26 PM EDT | Last Updated: 5 minutes ago

A Quebec courtroom watched with a substance of tears and horrified soundlessness connected Monday arsenic a video was shown of the infinitesimal a metropolis autobus rammed into a Montreal-area daycare, sidesplitting 2 children and injuring six more.

The video, filmed by cameras wrong the bus, shows the clang from the position of operator Pierre Ny St-Amand arsenic helium made a hard crook into the driveway of the Laval, Que., daycare and accelerated, engines revving, into the building's side.

The video cuts retired aft the impact, and successful the courtroom the dependable of crying broke the silence.

Ny St-Amand, 53, was arrested aft the autobus helium was driving crashed into the beforehand of the daycare connected Feb. 8, 2023, sidesplitting a four-year-old lad and a five-year-old girl. He is facing 2 counts of second-degree murder, arsenic good arsenic charges of battle with a limb and battle causing bodily harm successful narration to six different children who were injured.

Both the Crown and defence person told the Quebec Superior Court justice that helium should beryllium recovered not criminally liable for his actions.

Prosecutor Karine Dalphond told the tribunal successful February that the Crown and defence would contiguous the facts of Ny St-Amand's lawsuit jointly, aft 2 experts independently concluded helium should not beryllium held criminally liable owed to a intelligence disorder.

Ny St-Amand, who wore a grey sweater and appeared with his hands handcuffed successful beforehand of him, watched calmly connected Monday arsenic video of the clang played connected a tv suspended from the ceiling. Earlier, arsenic the proceedings opened, helium stood arsenic the charges were work and, successful a debased voice, confirmed his not blameworthy plea.

In a summary of facts work by a prosecutor, the tribunal heard that Ny St-Amand ne'er deed the brakes arsenic helium headed down the driveway.

Instead, helium sped up. "Once successful a consecutive enactment into the parking lot, helium accelerates toward the westbound broadside of the building," the authoritative said.

The archetypal fewer hours of the proceedings gave small denotation of what led the accused to perpetrate his alleged act. He had been assigned the autobus way by an automatic strategy and had not requested it, the tribunal heard. A video from the autobus cameras, taken earlier successful the greeting of the crash, showed Ny St-Amand picking up and dropping disconnected passengers successful a mean way.

After the crash, Ny St-Amand stood wrong the mangled autobus and removed his pants, underwear and boots, speaking and yelling incoherently. He was grabbed by 2 parents, who held him until constabulary arrived, according to the connection of facts.

The proceedings is expected to past a fewer days and volition see a elaborate recounting of the facts and grounds from the 2 psychiatric experts who concluded helium should not beryllium held criminally liable for his actions.

Superior Court Justice Eric Downs is presiding implicit the hearings and volition marque the last determination connected Ny St-Amand's transgression responsibility.

Some of the radical who had been contiguous astatine the clang told reporters extracurricular the courtroom connected Monday that the proceedings had been hard to watch.

Mike Haddad, 1 of the parents who helped subdue the suspect, said it was troubling to spot the video and the suspect's reaction.

"To spot the accused with nary remorse oregon thing astatine each successful his eyes, it's shocking," helium said. He added that the apt verdict of not criminally liable was "difficult to accept" for families.

"If it's not this idiosyncratic who should spell to prison, past who should?" helium said.