LAVAL, Que. – Neighbors of the Quebec guy accused of killing two four-year-olds when the bus he used to be using crashed right into a daycare middle have been surprised via the allegations and described him as a nice individual and a doting father.
Pierre Big apple St-Amand, a motive force for the Laval, Que. transit corporate, used to be arrested on the scene and charged with two counts of first-degree homicide and 7 alternative fees, together with tried homicide and annoyed attack.
Thanh-Ry Tran, a father of 3, stated his kids performed with the St-Amand kids and their better halves would backup each and every alternative with college pick-ups and drop-offs. In addition they celebrated Christmas and youngsters’s birthdays in combination.
He described the defendant as a excellent guy who all the time stated hi. He noticed no threat indicators forward of Wednesday’s dreadful information.
“When I see it, I can’t believe it went like this,” Tran stated.
Slight is understood about St-Amand, who became 51 on Untouched Presen’s Month. The mayor of Laval stated he’s been a transit motive force within the town north of Montreal for approximately a decade and has a blank disciplinary file.
Consistent with a St-Amand crowd family tree site, the defendant arrived in Quebec from Cambodia in 1983 on the day of eleven. Tran famous that St-Amand used to be of Cambodian beginning however not spoke the language. The Quebec Reliable Gazette presentations that he modified his first title from Big apple to Pierre Big apple in 1991.
St-Amand grew up in Sept-Îles in Quebec’s North Shore area and attended highschool in Polyvalente Manikoutai, native information retailers reported.
So far as Tran knew, none of St-Amand’s kids attended the past care middle the place the strike passed off. He stated he by no means noticed any signal of marital or alternative issues.
Tran stated he went to paintings on Wednesday and his spouse referred to as him with the inside track.
“I said (to her) there was no way it was him,” he stated.
Information display that St-Amand has been residing together with his partner in a crowd house within the suburb of Laval since 2014. He has no prison file.
Observers described the bus motive force as disturbed later Wednesday’s strike and stated he screamed and stripped his garments. On Thursday, Lionel Carmant, the province’s social services and products minister, stated there used to be no proof from condition officers that St-Amand were handled for psychological condition issues or had any pending requests for backup.
Nader Abou-Stated, who lives later door to St-Amand, stated that they had customary neighborly family members and he used to be now not acutely aware of any issues.
“How can someone with children do something like that,” requested Abou-Stated. “It makes no sense.”
Sara-Maria Chehade, any other neighbor, stated information of the arrest got here as a trauma when she discovered her father were shoveling snow with the accused later a contemporary typhoon.
“We never heard screams or arguments. They were always together. They went for walks as a family,” Chehade stated.
“He’s been playing with his kids, he’s put up a swing set for them to play … it’s hard to stomach.”
The police have now not known a cause for the strike on Wednesday. The case returns to court docket on February 17.
This record from The Canadian Press used to be first revealed on February 9, 2023.
Morgan Lowrie and Sidhartha Banerjee, The Canadian Press
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