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11 Killed in Vancouver Filipino Festival Car Ramming; Police Rule Out Terrorism
Vancouver Filipino festival car ramming — In a vehicle ramming incident that killed eleven people at a Filipino cultural event in the Canadian city, Vancouver police ruled out terrorism, citing the suspect’s history of mental health problems.
Ahead of federal elections, the ramming rocked the nation, injuring dozens more, some critically.
Just after 8 p.m. on Saturday, a man in a black Audi SUV pulled onto the roadway and struck festivalgoers at Lapu Lapu Day. A man from Vancouver was taken into custody.
At a press conference, Vancouver Police Interim Chief Steve Rai said, “This is the darkest day in Vancouver’s history.”
“The individual we have in custody does have a substantial history of mental health-related interactions with law enforcement and medical professionals,” he stated.
The dead and injured are shown on video taken after the incident along a South Vancouver thoroughfare that is lined with food vendors. The driver’s SUV is wrecked in the front.
Before the driver stomped on the pedal in a crowded area following a concert, Kris Pangilinan, who brought his pop-up clothes and lifestyle booth to the festival, watched the car slowly pass the barricade. He claimed that he would always remember the noises of corpses colliding with the car.
“I was like, ‘Oh, yo yo,’ as he sideswiped someone on his right side. He remarked, “Then he slammed on the gas.” Additionally, the acceleration sounds like an F1 car getting ready to go into a race.
“He pressed the accelerator and roared through the throng. And all I can recall are people screaming and hollering as bodies that were higher than the food trucks themselves landed on the ground. It appeared as though a bowling ball was striking bowling pins, sending all of the pins flying into the air.
Suspect was detained by bystanders before the police arrived(Vancouver Filipino festival car ramming)
According to police, the department’s Major Crime Section is in charge of the investigation, and a 30-year-old male from Vancouver was taken into custody at the site.
The police department wrote early on Sunday, “At this time, we are confident that this incident was not an act of terrorism.”
At a press conference, interim Vancouver Police Chief Steve Rai stated that the individual was first captured by onlookers before being taken into custody.
A young man wearing a black hoodie is seen with his back against a chain-link fence in a video that has gone viral on social media. He is accompanied by a security guard and is surrounded by others who are yelling and cursing at him.
The man puts his hand to his head and apologizes.
Rai stated that the individual in custody was a “lone male” who was “known to police in certain circumstances,” but he declined to comment on the footage.
On the last day of the election campaign, Prime Minister Mark Carney called off his first campaign event in advance of Monday’s vote.
Families lost a sister, brother, mother, father, son, or daughter last night. Carney fought back tears as he remarked, “Those families are living every family’s nightmare.” “And I would like to extend my sincere condolences to them, the numerous other people who were hurt, the Filipino Canadian community, and everyone in Vancouver.”
In Toronto in 2018, a guy killed ten people with a vehicle. Two men and eight women perished. Alek Minassian, who was convicted, admitted to police that he was a member of an online group of males who were dissatisfied by sex and that some of them had planned assaults on sex workers.
Witnesses describe how they leaped out of the way(Vancouver Filipino festival car ramming)
According to Carayn Nulada, she used her body to protect her granddaughter and grandson from the SUV after dragging them off the roadway. According to her, her daughter had a close call.
Nulada reported pale-faced victims lying on the ground or stuck beneath cars, and stated, “The car hit her arm and she fell down, but she got up, looking for us, because she is scared.”
“My daughter was trembling, and I saw people running.”
Early on Sunday morning, Nulada was at the emergency department of Vancouver General Hospital, looking for information on her brother, who had been injured in the attack and had several broken bones.
The family was shown his wedding ring in a pill bottle by the doctors, who recognized him and informed them that he was stable but would require surgery.
A Vancouver businessman named James Cruzat was at the event when he heard a car crank its engine and then “a loud noise, like a loud bang,” which at first he believed to be a gunshot.
While others were fleeing, shouting, or even screaming for aid, we noticed others on the road sobbing. We attempted to get there in order to see what was truly going on, but we discovered some bodies on the ground. Others, you know, were hurt, and others were dead,” Cruzat said.
An SUV rushed into the throng at tremendous speed, according to Nic Magtajas.
Magtajas, 19, remarked, “I witnessed a number of people go over and go high up from the impact of hitting the car.”
In a social media post, Vancouver Mayor Kenneth Sim stated that the city will, whenever feasible, share further details.
“The terrible incident at today’s Lapu Lapu Day event has shocked and deeply saddened me,” Sim said. “During this extremely trying time, our thoughts are with the Filipino community in Vancouver and all those affected.”
Vancouver’s large Filipino population was honoring a national hero
(Vancouver Filipino festival car ramming)
Statistics Canada, the organization that performs the national census, reports that in 2021, there were about 38,600 Filipino-American inhabitants of Vancouver, making up 5.9% of the city’s overall population.
Lapu Lapu Day honors Datu Lapu-Lapu, an Indigenous leader who resisted 16th-century Spanish explorers in the Philippines. He “represents the soul of native resistance, a powerful force that helped shape the Filipino identity in the face of colonization,” according to the organizers of the Vancouver event, which was in its second year.
In a statement, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. expressed his condolences to the victims and their loved ones.
“To guarantee that the incident will be thoroughly investigated and that the victims and their families receive support and consolation, the Philippine Consulate General in Vancouver is collaborating with Canadian authorities,” he stated.
“We remember the 1 million strong Filipino community in Canada and pray for their continued strength and resilience,” the nation’s Department of Foreign Affairs stated.
The witness, Pangilinan, stated, “It’s difficult to believe that someone has some malice against the Filipino people.”