Nathaniel Veltman, the man facing murder charges in the truck attack of a Muslim family at the intersection of Hyde Park Road and South Carriage Road in London, Ontario has left no traces on social media about his life, but a neighbor who spoke to CBC News said while the 20-year-old kept to himself, he’d have frequent and noisy gatherings in his downtown apartment.
Details about Nathaniel Veltman are difficult to piece together. Facebook confirmed it took down his profile on Monday. It’s known, however, that he was living in an apartment in downtown London and has ties to Strathroy, a small community in the heart of southwestern Ontario farm country. He is currently in a cell at the Elgin Middlesex Detention Centre, charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder after what police are calling a hate-motivated, anti-Muslim crime. Salman Afzaal, 46, his wife Madiha Salman, 44, their daughter Yumna Afzaal, 15, and Salman’s mother, Talat Afzaal, 74, are dead. Nine-year-old Fayez survived and remains in hospital (in the pic below, Afzaal family).
Police say Veltman was arrested in the parking lot of Cherryhill Village Mall on 301 Oxford Street West, about 10 minutes after the family was deliberately run over in the northwest part of the city. There he demanded a cab driver call police to arrest him. Later that taxi driver, Hasan Savehilaghi disclosed that, he “noticed swastika signs on the chest of (the man’s) T-shirt”. Otherwise, a little is known about Veltman’s childhood. He attended Strathroy District Collegiate Institute and then Fanshawe College in London. During his arrest, he had been working part time at Gray Ridge Egg Farms in Strathroy. Sthrathroy-Caradoc police say Veltman’s name appears in 14 incidents in their records, between 2016 and 2020. None are major criminal matters; and two are Liquor License Act violations from 2019 and 2020. London Police have been stationed all week outside the low-rise apartment building at 34 Covent Market Place, where Veltman (in the pic below) lived for a year.
One of the accused’s neighbors told CBC that Veltman often played video games late into the night. She recently heard banging coming from inside Veltman’s apartment at 3 am, so knocked on his door, asked him to be quiet and reminded him it’s a family building. “He couldn’t keep a straight eye contact with you,” the neighbor said (in the pic below, Nathaniel’s apartment building).
Police are now piecing together what they know about Nathaniel Veltman, the accused of killing a Muslim family in London, because of their faith. Police say Veltman was wearing something similar to body armor when they arrested him late Sunday.
The neighbor who spoke to CBC said she never heard him utter anything anti-Muslim, but still, “something was unusual about him.” She said he always had people inside his apartment and there was constant noise.
The London Police Chief, Steve Williams said to media that, speaking too much about the case could jeopardize it. However, Veltman is scheduled to appear in court on June 14.
Pics below taken in London by Muhammad Ali Bukhari
