VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — A 30-year-old man was charged with a number of counts of homicide on allegations he killed 11 individuals when he rammed a crowd of individuals at a Filipino heritage pageant in Vancouver, as a whole lot attended vigils throughout town for the victims and the Canadian prime minister visited the location on the eve of a federal election.
Kai-Ji Adam Lo, 30, was charged with eight counts of second-degree homicide in a video look earlier than a decide on Sunday, hours after he was arrested on the scene, stated Damienne Darby, spokeswoman for British Columbia prosecutors. Lo has not but entered a plea.
Investigators dominated out terrorism as a motive and stated extra fees are potential. They stated Lo had a historical past of psychological well being points.
An lawyer for Lo was not listed in on-line court docket paperwork and The Related Press wasn’t instantly capable of attain an lawyer representing him.
These killed had been between the ages of 5 and 65, officers stated. About two dozen individuals had been injured, some critically, when the black Audi SUV sped down a closed avenue simply after 8 p.m. Saturday and struck individuals attending the Lapu Lapu Day pageant. Authorities had not launched victims’ names by Sunday night.
Nathaly Nairn and her 15-year-old daughter carried flowers to one of many vigils. They’d attended the pageant on Saturday, and Nairn recounted seeing the broken SUV and our bodies on the bottom.
“One thing actually darkish occurred final night time,” Nairn stated, as she and her daughter wiped away tears.
Emily Daniels additionally introduced a bouquet. “It’s unhappy. Actually unhappy,” she stated. “I can’t imagine one thing like this might occur so near dwelling.”
Police Interim Chief Steve Rai known as it “the darkest day in Vancouver’s historical past.” There was no indication of a motive, however Rai stated the suspect has “a major historical past of interactions with police and well being care professionals associated to psychological well being.”
Video of the aftermath confirmed the lifeless and injured alongside a slender avenue in South Vancouver lined by meals vans. The entrance of the Audi SUV was smashed in.
Kris Pangilinan, who introduced his pop-up clothes and way of life sales space to the pageant, noticed the car enter slowly previous a barricade earlier than the driving force accelerated in an space full of individuals after a live performance. He stated listening to the sounds of individuals screaming and our bodies hitting the car won’t ever depart his thoughts.
“He slammed on the gasoline, barreled via the group,” Pangilinan stated. “It regarded like a bowling ball hitting bowling pins and all of the pins are flying into the air.”
Suspect detained by bystanders earlier than the police arrived
Rai stated the suspect was arrested after initially being apprehended by bystanders.
Video circulating on social media confirmed a younger man in a black hoodie along with his again in opposition to a chain-link fence, alongside a safety guard and surrounded by bystanders screaming and swearing at him.
“I’m sorry,” the person stated, holding his hand to his head. Rai declined to touch upon the video.
Prime Minister Mark Carney canceled his first marketing campaign occasion and two main rallies on the ultimate day of the election marketing campaign earlier than Monday’s vote.
“Final night time households misplaced a sister, a brother, a mom, father, son or a daughter. These households reside each household’s nightmare,” Carney stated. “And to them and to the numerous others who had been injured, to the Filipino Canadian group, and to everybody in Vancouver, I wish to supply my deepest condolences.”
Carney joined British Columbia Premier David Eby and group leaders Sunday night in Vancouver.
“On this extremely tough second, we are going to consolation the grieving, look after each other, and united in widespread function,” Carney posted in French and English on X together with a photograph of him lighting a candle at a makeshift memorial close to the scene of the assault.
The tragedy was harking back to an assault in 2018, when a person used a van to kill 10 pedestrians in Toronto.
Witnesses describe how they leaped out of the best way
Carayn Nulada stated that she pulled her granddaughter and grandson off the road and used her physique to protect them from the SUV. She stated that her daughter suffered a slender escape.
“The automotive hit her arm and she or he fell down, however she received up, in search of us, as a result of she is scared,” stated Nulada, who described youngsters screaming, and pale-faced victims mendacity on the bottom or wedged underneath automobiles.
“I noticed individuals operating and my daughter was shaking,” Nulada stated.
Nulada was in Vancouver Normal Hospital’s emergency room Sunday morning, looking for information about her brother, who was run down within the assault and suffered a number of damaged bones.
Docs recognized him by presenting the household along with his wedding ceremony ring in a tablet bottle and stated that he was steady, however can be dealing with surgical procedure.
James Cruzat, a Vancouver enterprise proprietor, was on the celebration and heard a automotive rev its engine after which “a loud noise, like a loud bang” that he initially thought may be a gunshot.
“We noticed individuals on the street crying, others had been like operating, shouting, and even screaming, asking for assist. So we tried to go there simply to examine what was actually really occurring till we discovered some our bodies on the bottom. Others had been lifeless, others like, you realize, injured,” Cruzat stated.
Vincent Reynon, 17, was leaving the pageant when he noticed police dashing in. Folks had been crying and he noticed scattered our bodies.
“It was like one thing straight out of a horror film or a nightmare,” he stated.
Adonis Quita stated when he noticed the SUV ramming via the group, his first response was to tug his 9-year-old son out of the realm. The boy saved saying “I’m scared, I’m scared,” Quita recalled. Later they prayed collectively.
His son had simply relocated to Vancouver from the Philippines along with his mom to reunite with Quita, who has lived right here since 2024. Quita stated he worries the kid will battle to regulate to life in Canada after witnessing the horrific occasion.
Vancouver Mayor Kenneth Sim stated town had “suffered its darkest day.”
“I do know many people are fearful and really feel uneasy,” stated the mayor. “I do know it’s exhausting to really feel this fashion proper now, however Vancouver remains to be a secure metropolis.”
Vancouver’s giant Filipino inhabitants was honoring a nationwide hero
Vancouver had greater than 38,600 residents of Filipino heritage in 2021, representing 5.9% of town’s complete inhabitants, in line with Statistics Canada, the company that conducts the nationwide census.
Lapu Lapu Day celebrates Datu Lapu-Lapu, an Indigenous chieftain who stood as much as Spanish explorers who got here to the Philippines within the sixteenth century. The organizers of the Vancouver occasion, which was in its second 12 months, stated he “represents the soul of native resistance, a robust pressure that helped form the Filipino identification within the face of colonization.”
Eby stated the province will not let the tragedy outline the celebration. He urged individuals to channel their rage into serving to these affected.
“I don’t assume there’s a British Columbian that hasn’t been touched ultimately by the Filipino group,” he stated. “You’ll be able to’t go to a spot that delivers and never meet a member of that group within the long-term care dwelling or hospitals, childcare or colleges. This can be a group that provides and provides and yesterday was a celebration of their tradition.”
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. issued an announcement expressing sympathy with the victims and their households.
“The Philippine Consulate Normal in Vancouver is working with Canadian authorities to make sure that the incident might be totally investigated, and that the victims and their households are supported and consoled,” he stated.
The Philippine authorities is coordinating with native police to assemble extra particulars about victims and the investigation, whereas the Vancouver consulate has established a hotline for households, presidential palace press officer Claire Castro advised reporters in Manila on Monday.
Gillies reported from Toronto. Related Press journalists Manuel Valdes and Lindsey Wasson in Vancouver; Teresa Cerojano in Manila, Philippines; Christopher Weber in Los Angeles; and Hannah Schoenbaum in Salt Lake Metropolis, Utah, contributed to this report.
