Constable Ken Lam has been identified as the Toronto policeman who kept his cool in taking down Alex Minassian.
"The video shows the man standing next to the open door on the driver's side of the vehicle, his arm outstretched, pointing a black object at the officer.
"Come on, get down," the officer shouts after drawing his weapon.
"Kill me," the man says in between making quick-draw motions with his arm.
"No, get down," the officer responds.
"I have a gun in my pocket," the man says.
"I don't care. Get down," the officer responds. "Get down or you'll be shot."
The man begins to approach the officer after a few more verbal exchanges, still pointing the black object at him.
"He kept on taking steps forward, and it is at that point that the officer, I believe, realized that that was not a gun in his hand," said Shahnam Ashgar, who witnessed the scene unfold.
The officer does not fire. He holsters his gun and takes out a baton as he strides toward the suspect, who tosses aside the object in his hand and lies down on the sidewalk, where the officer handcuffs him.
The whole incident was over in 37 seconds, and police now say there is no evidence the man was armed.
The officer "acted smartly, tactically and courageously," said John Muise, a retired Toronto police detective sergeant."
Officer praised after taking down Toronto van attack suspect without gunfire | CBC News
He's getting a lot of attention in the US press and cable networks today.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/24/world/americas/toronto-van-police-constable-lam.html