Suspect charged after Vancouver car ramming leaves 11 dead in Canada
A 30-year-old man has been charged with eight counts of second degree murder after a car drove into a crowd at a street festival in Vancouver, Canada, leaving at least 11 people dead and dozens more injured.
Kai-Ji Adam Lo, a resident of the city, appeared in court late on Sunday and was returned to custody, Vancouver Police Department said, adding that further charges are expected.
Acting police chief Steve Rai described Saturday’s attack at the Lapu Lapu Day festival – which was attended by up to 100,000 people – as the “darkest day in the city’s history”.
The identities of the victims are yet to be released by officials, but police said the ages of those killed ranged from five to 65.
Police said the suspect was known to them prior to the attack but ruled out an extremist motive, instead pointing to Mr Lo’s history of mental health problems.
Organisers of the annual Lapu Lapu festival said the city’s tight-knit Filipino community was “grieving” and the attack’s impact will be felt for years to come.
The attack took place at around 20:14 local time on Saturday (03:14 GMT) at East 43rd Avenue and Fraser in the south of Vancouver.
Several eyewitnesses to Saturday’s attack described the moment the black SUV vehicle ploughed into crowds.
“There’s a car that went just through the whole street and just hitting everyone,” Abigail Andiso, a local resident, told the Associated Press.
“I saw one dead, one man on the ground, and I went… towards the end where the car went, then there are more casualties, and you can see straight away there are about… maybe 20 people down, and everyone is panicking, everyone is screaming.”
Mr Lo was taken into custody by police officers after being detained by bystanders at the scene, police added.
At a separate news briefing on Sunday, Mr Rai said: “The number of dead could rise in the coming days or weeks.”
While Mr Rai declined to specify any potential motive, he said that he “can now say with confidence that the evidence in this case does not lead us to believe this was an act of terrorism”.
The suspect, he added, has “a significant history of interactions with police and healthcare professionals related to mental health”.
According to Mr Rai, police had conducted a threat assessment ahead of the festival, and had partially closed a road on a street behind a school where the bulk of the festivities were taking place.
There was nothing to indicate a higher threat level for the event, he added.
The street where the attack took place was largely being used by food trucks and there were no barriers in place.
Rai said that the incident would be a “watershed moment” for city officials and first responders.
Speaking at a news conference the following day, RJ Aquino, the head of the Filipino BC organisation, said Saturday night “was extremely difficult and the community will feel this for a long time”.
“We know that there’s a lot of questions floating about and we don’t have all the answers, but we want to tell everybody that we’re grieving,” he added.
Mr Aquino said the attack caused considerable confusion and chaos in the city’s tight-knit Filipino community. Many residents had called one another to check on their loved ones.
“I don’t think my phone has buzzed that much in my entire life,” he said. “There was a lot of panic and, you know, relief, when somebody answers.”
At the scene on Sunday, people laid flowers and paid their respects.
One woman, named Donna, was at the festival and said it was packed with young people and families.
“People were here to celebrate and have fun,” she told the BBC. “This is tragic.”
The attack came just before Canada’s federal election on 28 April. It prompted Prime Minister Mark Carney to cancel large gatherings of Liberal Party supporters in Calgary and Richmond.
In a televised address to Canadians, Mr Carney said he was “heartbroken” and “devastated” by the attack.
He visited the scene of the attack on Sunday evening, where he lit a candle and stood in silence with dozens of members of the local community.
Mr Carney also met family members of the victims and laid flowers during a church service vigil.
The main opposition candidate, Pierre Polievre, continued campaigning, but made an unscheduled stop at a church in Mississauga – a suburb of Toronto – to meet with members of the Filipino community.
Appearing alongside his wife Anaida Poilievre, the Conservative leader expressed his condolences. “I wanted to be here with you in solidarity,” he told the church attendees.
Meanwhile, the leader of the British Columbia New Democratic Party David Eby, said he was “shocked and heartbroken”.
One Canadian political leader, the New Democrats’ Jagmeet Singh, was among those who attended the Lapu Lapu festival on Saturday, and subsequently changed his planned events on Sunday.
He said it was “heart-breaking” to see that “such joy can be torn apart so violently.
“I saw families gathered together, I saw children dancing, I saw pride in culture, in history and community,” he added.