‘Tragedy all around’: Murder charges follow Vancouver festival attack that killed 11

VANCOUVER — 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.

— With files from The Associated Press

Chuck Chiang, Nono Shen, Ashley Joannou, Brieanna Charlebois and Darryl Greer, The Canadian Press