TORONTO—A professor and two students were stabbed Wednesday during a class on gender issues at a university in the Canadian city of Waterloo, and a suspect has been taken into custody and charged.
Waterloo Regional Police say Geovanny Villalba-Aleman, an international student who had been studying at the University of Waterloo, faces three counts of aggravated assault, four counts of assault with a weapon, and two counts of possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose.
Waterloo Police Chief Mark Crowell said the suspect, who had been interviewed by police, wanted to make a “statement” about gender identity, and that he had asked the professor to verify that the class was about gender studies before attacking.
A 38-year-old female professor, a 20-year-old female student, and 19-year-old male student were sent to hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries. About 40 students were in the class at the time.
Several students tried to stop the attack, including by throwing chairs at the suspect, while others fled the room. The suspect initially posed as a victim before police identified him and arrested him, Crowell said.
The suspect, who does not have a criminal record, appeared in court for a bail hearing on Thursday.
Nick Manning, associate vice president of communications for the University of Waterloo, said the suspect graduated from the university at the end of the fall term in 2022.
Manning said that the stabbing occurred in Philosophy 202, which, according to the university website, focuses on “gender issues.”
A website description of the course said it “will examine the construction of gender in the history of philosophy through contemporary discussions. What is gender? How do we “do” gender? How can we “undo” gender—and do we want to?”
Yusuf Kaymak, a student at the university, told CTV News that he was in the class at the time and that about 40 students were there.
“The guy basically walked in and asked the teacher if he was the professor, he said ‘yeah,’ then he pulled out a knife and after that, everybody just ran out,” Kaymak said.
Students gathered for a moment of silence in the university’s arts quad.
