(UPDATE: April 27 @ 5:15 pm) - Charges have been laid against a man who's accused of racing a vehicle through a crowded street at a Filipino community festival in Vancouver, killing 11 in an attack the interim police chief called the "darkest day" in the city's history.
Vancouver Police said in a statement Sunday that Adam Kai-Ji Lo faces eight counts of second-degree murder and further charges are anticipated.
Const. Tania Visintin said some victims remained unidentified.
The victims ranged in age from five to 65, and the death toll from the attack on the Lapu Lapu Day festival could grow, said Interim Vancouver Police Chief Steve Rai.
"It's just a tragedy all around for many families," Rai said.
A Ministry of Health statement said 32 people were seen at several hospitals across the Lower Mainland. It said 17 patients remain in hospital, some of them in critical and serious condition, while others have non-life-threatening injuries.
Lo, 30, was arrested at the scene in South Vancouver after initially being apprehended by bystanders and he remains in custody.
Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim said at the afternoon news conference that it appeared "mental health is the underlying issue" for the attack.
“The individual in question has a significant history of mental health issues,” Sim said, noting the suspect was known to police for a multitude of mental health interactions.
“I want to be clear, if anything is to come of this tragedy, it has to be change. I personally will not stop in calling on governments to make these changes now.”
The Vancouver Police Department has said in the past that mental health calls take up a significant portion of policing resources.
Rai said police were confident terrorism was not involved, although the motive is unknown.
Witnesses said the attack sent victims flying as a black Audi SUV roared through the crowd at high speed around 8:14 p.m. on Saturday, leaving bodies and debris strewn across a long section of road lined with food trucks near Fraser Street and West 43rd Avenue.
"This is the darkest day in our city's history," Rai said, calling it a "senseless, heartbreaking act of violence."
B.C. Premier David Eby held a news conference Sunday near the site of the attack, telling reporters in a shaky voice that he had attended the event with his daughter on Saturday afternoon before the attack. He paid tribute to the Filipino community.
"British Columbians are right to be angry. Here's a community that has done nothing but give, has been overlooked in terms of their contributions to our province, to this city, to this country. It is finally having an event where their culture is upheld and celebrated and it's destroyed by a single individual."
The premier said B.C. residents will support the Filipino community "just like they support us every single day in this province."
Hip-hop artist Jacob Bureros attended a South Vancouver church service Sunday where members of the Filipino community gathered.
He said he had just wrapped up his performance at the festival when he saw the vehicle racing through the crowd of people before it quickly come to a stop.
“He jumped out of the car and ran, and so, we chased him down,” Bureros said of the vehicle's driver.
He said the scene was chaotic and horrifying.
"There was a young woman in the middle of the road, there was someone who was holding their loved ones screaming, people running up and down, looking for their kids,” said Bureros.
“I don’t even have words for it right now, it’s just really horrible.”
Realtor Abigail Andiso said she saw a couple dozen people on the ground after the SUV sped through the crowd.
"The car went just through the whole street," she said.
"I can see straight away there's about 20 or 30, maybe 20 people down, and everyone is panicking. Everyone is screaming and nobody knows what to do."
Barricades and tape sealed off a section of Fraser Street from West 41st Avenue to 43rd Avenue and bunches of flowers piled up in tribute to the victims.
Sim said he had directed a full review of safety measures at events such as these.
However, Sim said “the city is safe," and noted that there are about 3,000 events and festivals held in Vancouver every year.
Rai said a risk assessment was conducted before the event and police had decided no heavy-vehicle barricades would be placed at the event.
While Rai said he was confident that assessment was "sound," a review of the circumstances would be conducted.
"It goes without saying, this will change the landscape for deployment for police," Rai said, noting they assess about 1,000 protests and 2,200 events a year.
"The system has worked up to this point."
A statement on social media from Public Safety Canada said officials believe the attack was an isolated incident, "and that there is no active threat to Canadians."
Mourners filled a gymnasium before a Sunday night vigil not far from the festival site. Sim, Eby and several other elected officials, including NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, attended.
Singh had also been at the festival on Saturday and said he left just minutes before the attack.
Many of those in attendance were in tears, while others clutched bouquets of flowers.
Eby told the crowd that they were devastated that such a thing could happen on their day of celebration.
“For those of you who are still waiting for news, waiting for names, worried about someone at the hospital, I can’t imagine what you’re feeling right now.”
"I want to share with you, people from across Canada, international leaders have spoken out to say that they are thinking of you right now," Eby said.
“We’ll stand with you now and in the days to come.”
Filipino BC chair RJ Aquino addressed hundreds of mourners gathered at Vancouver's Kensington Community Centre for a vigil on Sunday evening.
"A lot of us are still numb, a lot of us are angry, confused, sad, devastated and some of us don't know how to feel, what to feel and we're going to need your help," Aquino said. "Honestly, I'm kind of all of the above right now."
Aquino said he was "deeply humbled and grateful" for the large turnout at the vigil.
"The Filipino community has so many friends," he said.
The crowd included Mayor Ken Sim, Premier David Eby, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, Rai, and several members of Parliament including Jenny Kwan, Taleeb Noormohamed and Don Davies, who represents the riding of Vancouver-Kingsway where the tragedy occurred.
"It's a devastating day. I was shocked. I was traumatized. I was saddened," Davies said. "It is just a horrifying."
Davies said the Lapu Lapu Day event "was a beautiful expression of Filipino culture and pride and fun."
"There's dancing and music and performance and laughter and food and excitement, and then to have that interrupted by an act of senseless violence, you know, such dire consequences are unfathomable," he said.
Prime Minister Mark Carney paused campaigning for Monday's election to address the attack at a news conference.
He said Canadians were shocked, devastated and heartbroken as he offered condolences to the Filipino-Canadian community and the broader communities of the Lower Mainland and Vancouver.
Carney later joined a crowd of mourners and placed white roses at the candle-light vigil. He kneeled and bowed his head alongside Eby, the premier's wife, Cailey Lynch, Sim and MLA Mable Elmor.
The five looked on solemnly as a community member broke out into a rendition of "Amazing Grace," and the crowd of mourners quickly joined in.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said his "thoughts are with the Filipino community and all the victims targeted by this senseless attack."
The attack made international headlines and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said he was “completely shattered” to hear the news and expressed “deepest sympathies to the families of the victims and to the strong and thriving Filipino community in Canada.”
“We are one with the families of the victims and the Filipino community in Vancouver during this difficult time,” he said in a statement posted to social media.
King Charles said he and his wife were “profoundly saddened” by the attack and “send our deepest possible sympathy at a most agonizing time for so many in Canada.”
"Stay strong, our friends in Canada and the Philippines," wrote Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in his own statement of condolence.
Lapu Lapu Day is named after an Indigenous resistance fighter in the Philippines who fought against Spanish colonization in the 16th century.
(UPDATE: April 27 @ 10:05 am) - Vancouver's interim police chief, Steve Rai, says the death toll in the ramming attack on a Filipino community festival on Saturday has increased to 11.
Police say dozens more are injured and the death toll could rise further after the attack in which an SUV sped through a South Vancouver street crowded with hundreds of festival patrons.
Rai added that the 30-year-old Vancouver man who was arrested after the attack has a "significant history" of interactions with police and mental health workers, and while a motive is not known, he's confident terrorism is not involved.
He also said a risk assessment was conducted before the event and police decided no heavy-vehicle barricades would be placed at the event.
Rai stated that he's confident the assessment was "sound," but a review of the circumstances surrounding the planning would be conducted with the City of Vancouver.
The attack left bodies and debris strewn across a long section of road near Fraser Street and West 43rd Avenue, and Rai says it's the "darkest day" in the city's history.
(Original story: April 27 @ 7:20 am) - Vancouver is waking to the tragic aftermath of a deadly vehicle attack on a Filipino community street festival that killed at least nine people, with survivors describing horrifying scenes of victims strewn on the ground.
Interim Vancouver Police Chief Steve Rai said a 30-year-old Vancouver man was arrested for Saturday night's attack in which an SUV plowed through a crowded South Vancouver street at high speed.
Vancouver Police said on social media platform X that they were “confident” the incident was not an act of terrorism, and the death toll stood at nine as of 3 am Sunday.
Rai said multiple people were also injured but the exact number of casualties won't be released until families have been notified.
Carayn Nulada said she pulled her granddaughter and grandson off the street and used her body to shield them from the black SUV that roared through the middle of the crowd at the Lapu Lapu Day festival just after 8 p.m.
She said her daughter, the children's mother, suffered a narrow escape when the SUV clipped her arm.
Nulada said her daughter was able to get back up, and her injuries were minor, but all around her were other victims scattered on the ground.
“The car hit her arm and she fell down, but she got up, looking for us because she is scared,” said Nulada, who described children screaming and pale-faced victims lying on the ground or wedged under vehicles.
“I saw people running and my daughter was shaking.”
Nulada was in Vancouver General Hospital's emergency room early Sunday morning, trying to find news about her brother, who suffered multiple broken bones.
Doctors identified him by presenting the family with his wedding ring in a pill bottle and said he was stable but would be facing surgery.
Witnesses of the attack described bodies being sent flying by impact with the SUV. Videos show wreckage and victims scattered across a long stretch of road after the attack, which police said took place around East 43rd Avenue and Fraser Street.
Nic Magtajas described an SUV roaring through the crowd at high speed.
“I saw a bunch of people go over, go high up from the impact of hitting the car,” said Magtajas, 19.
He and Jihed Issa were working at a store facing the festival and said they initially had their backs to the scene when they heard a car engine revving.
“People were screaming,” said Issa, 17.
“I ran outside to the street and I was trying to figure out what happened. I made it to halfway into the street, looked around (and) there was a lot of people panicking, people on the floor — bodies.”
Police said a 24-hour assistance centre had been established at the Douglas Park Community Centre, on West 22nd Avenue.
“Vancouver Police officers and victim services professionals have been deployed to help anyone who has not been able to contact a loved one who was at the Lapu Lapu (Festival),” VPD said on X.
Political leaders expressed dismay at the incident, with Liberal Leader Mark Carney saying on social media platform X that he was “devastated to hear about the horrific events.”
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said he was shocked by news of the “senseless attack,” while NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, who had earlier been at the festival, said he was “horrified.”
The attack made international headlines by Sunday morning. Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said he was “completely shattered” to hear the news and expressed “deepest sympathies to the families of the victims and to the strong and thriving Filipino community in Canada.”
“We are one with the families of the victims and the Filipino community in Vancouver during this difficult time,” he said in a statement posted to social media.
King Charles said he and his wife were “profoundly saddened” by the attack and “send our deepest possible sympathy at a most agonizing time for so many in Canada.”
Members of the Filipino community turned up at Vancouver General Hospital to support victims' families.
Lourdes Venegas and her friend Teresita Landingin were having dinner at a restaurant when they heard of the attack.
“We decided we would just come, just in case there is anything that we could do to help our countrymen, as well as the staff here,” said Venegas.
They comforted the Nulada family, placing their hands on their knees and praying.
Lapu Lapu Day is named after an Indigenous resistance fighter in the Philippines who fought against Spanish colonization in the 16th Century.
The incident is the latest horrific car attack to take place in Canada in recent years.
A Quebec man currently stands accused of killing two children and injuring six others in February 2023 when he drove a city bus into a Montreal-area daycare. The crown and defence jointly submitted evidence that the man was likely in a state of psychosis at the time and are expected to recommend he be found not criminally responsible.
Four members of a Muslim family were struck and killed by a pickup truck in June 2021 in an incident a judge later deemed an act of terrorism.
In Toronto on April 23, 2018, a 25-year-old man drove a rented van into mostly female pedestrians on Yonge Street, killing 10 people and injuring 16.
