Laval daycare bus crash

On February 8, 2023, a bus driver crashed a Société de transport de Laval (STL) bus into a daycare in the Sainte-Rose district of Laval, Quebec, Canada, killing two children and hospitalizing six others. The driver exited the bus immediately after the crash, screaming hysterically and tearing off his clothes. He was immediately subdued by parents and residents and arrested by police minutes after the crash.

Police secured the scene and children were moved to another school, where police and teachers calmed the children and reunited them with their panicked parents. A spontaneous memorial of teddy bears and flowers appeared just outside the crash scene by evening. Trauma experts were on hand to support residents and parents. The next day, Premier of Quebec Francois Legault paid his respects at the scene, and Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau attended a memorial service at the Sainte-Rose-de-Lima Church the following day.

The driver, 51-year old Pierre Ny St-Amand, a father-of-two living in Laval with no prior known history of criminal behavior or mental illness, was arrested with 8 charges, including 2 for first degree murder, one for attempted murder, and several for aggravated assault. A Quebec Superior Court in Laval found him fit to stand trial, but ordered a second psychiatric assessment to assess his mental condition at the time of the crash to determine criminal responsibility. The report has been submitted to the court and sealed from the public to allow prosecution and defense time to examine the report.

On March 28, 2024, the court ruled that there was enough evidence of criminal intent to have the accused stand trial on all initial charges. As of April 5, 2024, a press ban on evidence presented at legal proceedings is in effect pending selection of a jury. The accused is being held at the Philippe-Pinel Institute psychiatric hospital in Montreal while awaiting trial sometime in Fall 2024 or Winter 2025.