JOINT STATEMENT 2024-02-23

JOINT STATEMENT FROM LPSB CHAIR ALI CHAHBAR AND LPS CHIEF THAI TRUONG 

LONDON, ON (February 23, 2024) – In her decision read out in court yesterday, Madame Justice Renee Pomerance affirmed that the murders of Our London Family members Talat Afzaal, Salman Afzaal, Madiha Salman, and Yumnah Afzaal, as well as the attempted murder of a fifth member, constituted terrorist acts.

The attack on June 6, 2021, opened a deep wound within our community and inflicted trauma on the citizens who came to the aid of the victims in the immediate aftermath, the first responders dispatched to the scene, and most profoundly, on Muslims throughout the city and beyond. The horrors of that late spring evening have left a deep scar on our community. However, it is our hope that the bonds formed through shared grief among family, friends, neighbours, and complete strangers will continue to grow and strengthen.

We are grateful for the efforts of the dedicated members of the London Police Service, who were entrusted with the investigation from the first 9-1-1 call until the conclusion yesterday. The outcome is surely due, in part, to their collective diligence and resolve.

On behalf of the London Police Services Board and the London Police Service, we extend our sincere appreciation to our law enforcement partners in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Integrated National Security Enforcement Team (GTA and Southwest Ontario), the Public Prosecution Service of Canada, the Crown Law Office - Criminal, the Middlesex Crown Attorney’s Office, the Victim Witness Assistance Program, and all community organizations that provided support.