Canada police investigate officer attack, chase as terrorism

EDMONTON, Alberta – An attack on a police officer outside a football game with a car and knife and a high-speed chase of a moving van that left four people injured in the western city of Edmonton, Alberta, are being investigated as acts of terrorism, Canadian authorities said early Sunday.

Edmonton Police Chief Rod Knecht said officers took a suspect into custody and they think he acted alone. Knecht said an Islamic State group flag was found in the car that hit the officer. They later described him as a 30-year-old Edmonton man. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called it a terror attack.

The attack began outside a Canadian Football League game at Commonwealth Stadium on Saturday night when police say a white Chevrolet Malibu rammed a traffic control barricade and sent an officer flying 15 feet into the air.

Knecht said the driver, believed to be 30 years old, then got out and attacked the officer with a knife before fleeing on foot.