Global Courant
A 24-year-old former international student has been charged with stabbing Wednesday in a classroom at the University of Waterloo, Ont.
Waterloo regional police chief Mark Crowell told a press briefing on Thursday that the “planned and targeted attack” was a “senseless act of hate”.
Police said they are still investigating the incident, which saw three people sent to hospital at Hagey Hall. In the meantime, they have charged Geovanny Villalba-Aleman. Crowell said the suspect has no criminal record.
According to police, “this was a hate-motivated incident related to gender expression and gender identity.”
“It’s sad and upsetting that this incident happened during Pride Month,” Crowell told the press briefing, adding that he hopes it encourages the community to “all come together.”
The suspect, a recent graduate, has been charged with:
Aggravated assault (three counts). Attack with a weapon (four counts). Possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose (two counts). Mischief under $5,000. Members of the Waterloo Regional Police are investigating the stabbing incident at the University of Waterloo in southern Ontario on Wednesday. (Nick Iwanyshyn/The Canadian Press)
About 40 students were in the classroom at the time of the stabbing. A 38-year-old female professor from Kitchener and two students – a 20-year-old woman and a 19-year-old man, both from Waterloo – were taken to hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries.
In a tweet, Vivek Goel, President of the University of Waterloo identified the professor as Katy Fulfer. The university’s website lists Fulfer as an associate professor in the philosophy department and as an undergraduate gender and social justice advisor.
Katy Fulfer, seen in an archive photo, is listed on the University of Waterloo website as an associate professor in the philosophy department and as a gender and social justice consultant. The president of the university confirmed that Fulfer was among those injured in the stabbings. (Provided by Katy Fulfer)
A note added to her philosophy department staff profile page reads, “We are shocked, saddened and outraged by the attack on our campus community yesterday in which a professor and two students were stabbed during a class on gender issues.”
Yesterday, Professor Katy Fulfer and two students from her Gender Studies course were attacked for exploring society and gender. That this hate-filled attack over gender expression and identity happened at the end of Pride Month is even more painful. 1/6 pic.twitter.com/i1MgjAuHb3
Crowell said a man who was not a member of the class came in around 3:30 p.m. ET and spoke to the professor “before attacking her with two large knives without provocation.” Some people in the class tried to stop what was happening, while others fled the room, he said.
As students tried to escape, two students were stabbed and there was an attempt to stab a third student, who was not injured, Crowell said.
“The suspect was located in the building by police and arrested,” and appeared in court on Thursday for a bail hearing after spending the night in custody. Crowell said the result of that hearing was not known at the time of the police update.
“Yesterday, Professor Katy Fulfer and two students from her Gender Studies course were attacked for exploring society and gender,” Goel wrote in his tweet.
“That this hate-filled attack over gender expression and identity happened at the end of Pride Month is even more painful.”
The internal alarm system went off after stabbings
The news of the charges comes after university officials said the internal emergency alert system was not working as expected following the stabbings.
Rebecca Elming, a spokesperson for the university, confirmed that the WatSAFE app sent an alert to students 90 minutes after the incident.
She said a tweet from earlier in the day about testing the app was removed to avoid confusion between the test and real warnings.
Nick Manning, associate vice president of communications, said a “second look at our emergency notification systems” is needed.
“But once we had an official report from our partners to the police, we were there to notify our community in a different way, and we need to look at that system to understand it.”
Supt. Shaena Morris of Waterloo Police Department said the university’s security system was adequate when the stabbings took place.
“We were able to work with the University of Waterloo’s Special Constable Service to make an immediate arrest on the scene.”
She confirmed that there were no security personnel in Hagey Hall at the time of the stabbings.
“As is normal for any day on the college campus, we don’t have a strong and super-visible security presence. It wouldn’t be normal for us to have a significant security presence on campus on a normal day – and this was any normal day.”
Manning said it’s too early to speculate on whether an upgrade to security is needed.
“Of course, … it requires us to go out and think about and examine how we go about our day-to-day business, but I think it’s really important for us to think about the support for the students right now, the employees in the moment and take the time to think about what happened and build a plan from there.”
‘Uptick in events’ aimed at the LGBTQ community
Crowell spoke to reporters about a “small increase in events” recently targeting the LGBTQ community in the Waterloo region.
LOOK | LGBTQ activist says it’s ‘critical’ to discuss issues without fear of violence:
LGBT activist talks about the chilling effect of the stabbing in Waterloo’s class
Cait Glasson, an LGBTQ activist in the Kitchener-Waterloo area, says students should feel safe discussing gender issues in class and not governed by violence.
Cait Glasson, an LGBTQ activist in the Kitchener-Waterloo area, said people in the community are reporting more instances of harassment and “being harassed in the street, and stuff like that.”
She said students should feel safe to “talk about the issues that need to be talked about” without fear of being controlled by violence.
Glasson said there are misconceptions and misinformation about transgender people, such as kids getting “puberty-blocking drugs like candy and surgery everywhere,” leading people to believe untrue statements.
Stabbing incident ‘broke my heart’
Aimée Morrison, an associate professor of English at the University of Waterloo, was not on campus at the time of the stabbing. She told CBC Radio’s As It Happens that she knows the instructor who was stabbed, and that her colleague is traumatized and is seeking privacy.
Morrison said the incident makes teaching less safe for everyone.
“It broke my heart and it terrified me. This is the building I work in. I teach in that classroom. I teach students similar materials. It makes us all a lot less safe,” Morrison said Thursday.
Nick Manning, vice president of communications at the University of Waterloo, spoke to the media outside Hagey Hall after the stabbing on Wednesday that sent three people to hospital. (Aastha Shetty/CBC)
Morrison said an arrest doesn’t mean there’s no danger.
“It’s very hard to imagine going into a classroom and learning some of these more difficult topics, or topics that the people outside of the classroom find controversial or dangerous, or that should be stopped,” Morrison said.
“And to me, that’s going to be the ongoing tragedy of this.”
LISTEN | Associate professor says stabbings at University of Waterloo ‘terrified’ her:
As it happens6:35“It broke my heart and it frightened me,” said Professor of the University of Waterloo of stabbings
Three people are in hospital and a man has been charged after what police say was a hate-motivated stabbing at a gender studies college at the University of Waterloo on Wednesday. Aimée Morrison, an associate professor of English at the school, says this will make students feel unsafe when discussing important but controversial topics in class. She spoke with As It Happens presenter Nil Köksal.
PM condemns ‘absolutely despicable’ incident
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tweeted on Thursday about the “horrific and unacceptable” incident.
Yesterday’s stabbings at a gender studies class at the University of Waterloo are horrific and unacceptable. This kind of violence should always be condemned. Our thoughts are with the professor and two students who were injured.
In a subsequent tweet, he said it is “absolutely despicable” that the stabbings are considered hate-motivated.
“I strongly condemn this vicious act. It’s another reminder that we should never escalate misogynistic, anti-2SLGBTQI+ rhetoric – because these words have real consequences.”
The fact that the University of Waterloo stabbings were hate-motivated is absolutely despicable. I strongly condemn this disgusting act. It’s another reminder that we should never let misogynistic, anti-2SLGBTQI+ rhetoric escalate—because these words have real consequences.
In a tweet, Prime Minister Doug Ford said he was “disturbed” by the stabbings.
“I pray for the recovery of the victims and for everyone affected by this horrific tragedy,” he wrote. “The person responsible for these attacks must be put behind bars for good.”
We are all alarmed by the stabbings that took place at the University of Waterloo yesterday. I pray for the recovery of the victims and for everyone affected by this horrific tragedy.
The person responsible for these attacks should be put behind bars for good.
City of Waterloo Mayor Dorothy McCabe said on Twitter that the incident was “deeply distressing and upsetting.”
“I am relieved that the individual involved was apprehended quickly. The Waterloo City Council and staff offer our support and hope for a full recovery to those injured on UW’s campus today.”
Emmett MacFarlane, a political science professor, criticized the university’s WatSAFE app.
“No emails were sent from the central admin,” his tweet read.
“The dean’s office … sent conflicting emails, first telling people to leave the building, then telling them to lock up their offices. It’s a mystery to me why the director of one of the faculties is the only one sending messages in a emergency, and for arts faculty and staff only. There should be a coordinated officer at the center who sends texts, emails, etc. to *everyone* at the university.”
MacFarlane is urging the university to take a serious look at their emergency alert system.
