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Suspect Charged with Murder After Vancouver Filipino Festival Car Ramming
Vancouver Filipino festival car ramming:
After a car crashed into a crowd at a street celebration honoring Filipino ancestry in Vancouver on Saturday night, killing at least 11 people in what police are calling “the darkest day” in the city’s history, a suspect has been charged with eight counts of second-degree murder.
The suspect, identified by police as Kai-Ji Adam Lo, 30, a Vancouver resident, was detained at the scene with the help of several festival attendees. Authorities noted that Lo had a history of encounters with law enforcement related to mental health issues. According to a statement released by Vancouver police on Sunday, he has appeared in court and remains in custody.
According to police, the deceased ranged in age from five to sixty-five. Steve Rai, acting chief of Vancouver Police, stated during a press conference on Sunday that “dozens more are injured, some critically, and some have not yet been identified.”
According to authorities, further charges are expected in the investigation. In memory of the fatalities, the city of Vancouver declared that, until further notice, the Canadian flag would be flown at half-mast at all public buildings.
The event on Saturday was intended as a celebration of culture and diversity, marking Lapu Lapu Day, an annual festival organized by British Columbia’s Filipino community and commemorating an Indigenous leader who fought against Spanish colonization.
Food trucks lined the street as performers broke out in traditional Filipino dance in the spring sunshine. Yet the family-friendly event ended in horror: one witness described it as like a war zone, with bodies seen lying in the street.
“The actions of a single person shattered our collective sense of safety. It is impossible to overstate how many lives have been impacted forever by this lone individual, Rai told reporters on Sunday.
Police said there is no proof the event was a terrorist attack, but no motive has been offered.
“It seems that the fundamental problem here is mental health,” stated Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney expressed his great sadness about the assault, which occurred just before Monday’s election, during a news briefing on Sunday morning local time. He also emphasized that officials do not believe there is a “active threat” to Canadians.
Carney acknowledged that “in what Vancouver police are describing as a car ramming attack,” nine people were murdered and over twenty were injured.
“Families lost a sister, a brother, a mother, a father, a son, or a daughter last night,” he added. Every family’s dread is being lived by those families.
A guy struck a sizable group of people enjoying the Lapu Lapu Day Festival near East 43rd Avenue and Fraser Street with a black Audi SUV shortly after 8 p.m. local time, according to police. At the scene, the Vancouver-based male suspect was taken into custody.
Rai stated that the suspect, who is still in prison, was believed to have acted alone and was the only one inside the car. Since the suspect has not yet been charged, police are not making his identity public.
Police have encouraged the public to get in touch with them if they have any information regarding the event, and the investigation, which is being overseen by the Major Crime Section of the Vancouver Police Department, is still ongoing.
Witnesses to the street celebration recounted chaotic scenes.
The journalist Kris Pangilinan, who is stationed in Toronto, told Canadian public broadcaster CBC that it’s something that you don’t expect to see in your lifetime. “The driver simply slammed down the pedal and collided with hundreds of people.” The sight of all the bowling pins flying into the air was like to watching a bowling ball hit.
“It was like a war zone,” he added. The ground was covered in corpses.
CNN geolocated footage shot in the aftermath of the event, which revealed a boulevard bordered with trees and littered with rubbish from food vendors on each side. There were many persons on the ground as emergency personnel attempted to administer medical attention.
Authorities urged people to stay away from the area, and sirens could be heard in the distance.
A police officer was inspecting a black SUV with a broken front end that was sitting in the middle of the road with the driver-side door open.
Police cordons were visible, and paramedics and ambulances were present at the location, according to Reuters photographs taken after the event.
A city mourns (Vancouver Filipino festival car ramming)
“We are still finding the words to express the deep heartbreak brought on by this senseless tragedy,” the street festival’s organizers, a community group called Filipino BC, stated in an Instagram statement after the deadly incident. For the victims and their families, we are heartbroken.
At a news conference, Premier David Eby of British Columbia remarked, “I just feel so sick.” In Vancouver, where officials said the Canadian flag will be flown at half-staff at city buildings, he told reporters, “I don’t think there is a British Columbian that hasn’t been touched in some way by the Filipino community.”
The head of Canada’s New Democratic Party, Jagmeet Singh, was present at the event but departed just before the incident. He told CTV News, “I was just there, and I just picture the faces of the children that I saw dancing and smiling.” “This is so horrifying that I am at a loss for words.”
The victims of the “unspeakable tragedy” would “not be forgotten,” according to Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who also added that Filipino ambassadors and employees in Vancouver have been directed to help the victims and work with Canadian authorities.
The incident on Saturday night follows seven years after a 25-year-old guy killed ten people in Toronto by crashing into pedestrians.
The tragedy, which occurred near Canada’s pivotal federal election on Monday, has sparked concerns about Vancouver’s mental health and public safety.
Sim said that after the fatal occurrence, he oversaw a thorough evaluation of event safety protocols. Protecting Vancouver’s citizens is and will always be our first concern, he told reporters, adding that the city “is still a safe city” where the “vast majority” of events occur without incident.
Rai said authorities had conducted a risk assessment prior to the festival, which was largely held on the grounds of a school that was not directly accessible through public roads. He added that they found no “threats to the event or to the Filipino community,” and decided that police officers and heavy vehicle barricades would not be deployed on site.
“While I’m confident the joint risk assessment and public safety plan was sound, we will be working with our partners at the City of Vancouver to review all of the circumstances surrounding the planning of this event,” the interim police chief said.