Prosecutors charge Vancouver man for attack on Filipino festival that kills 11

By Chris Helgren and Allison Lampert

VANCOUVER (Reuters) -Canadian prosecutors have charged a 30-year-old Vancouver resident with murder for killing at least 11 people aged between 5 and 65 and injuring dozens after he rammed an SUV through a crowd at a Filipino community festival in the western Canadian city, police said on Sunday.

The man, Kai-Ji Adam Lo, was charged with eight counts of second-degree murder by prosecutors in British Columbia and "further charges are anticipated," according to a post on X by the Vancouver Police.

Lo appeared in court on Sunday, hours after police arrested him at the scene of the incident on Saturday evening. Court documents seen by Reuters did not show a plea.

Authorities described Lo as having had a "significant history" of interactions with authorities involving mental health. They said there was no evidence of terrorism.

"This is the darkest day in our city's history," Vancouver Interim Chief Constable Steve Rai told reporters at a Sunday press conference.

Police said two dozen people were injured, some critically, and warned that the death toll could rise in coming days and weeks. As of Sunday afternoon, Rai said he did not believe there were any ongoing threats to the community.

More than 100 police officers joined the investigation, as local officials worked with provincial and federal authorities to provide support services. Messages of condolence and support came from across the globe.

"The community will feel this for a long time," RJ Aquino, chair of the community advocacy group Filipino BC, told reporters. "We want to tell everybody that we're grieving. We want to tell everybody that we see and hear the support from around the world at this point."

The attack on Saturday evening took place two days before Canada's federal election on Monday.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney interrupted his campaigning and traveled to Vancouver on Sunday, where he knelt in front of candles and flowers laid at the scene of the car ramming to pay his respects to the victims. He also attended a church where he lit a candle and observed a moment of silence.

Carney earlier released a statement in which he expressed his condolences to the country's Filipino community.

"Last night, families lost a sister, a brother, a mother, a father, a son or a daughter. Those families are living every family's nightmare," he told reporters in Hamilton, Ontario.

"I join all Canadians in mourning with you. I know that Canadians are united with you," he said.

British Columbia Premier David Eby said at a press conference near the site of the attack on Sunday afternoon that it was hard not to feel rage towards the man who "murdered innocent people" for reasons that were not yet known.

"I want to turn the rage that I feel into ensuring that we stand with the Filipino community, that we deliver what they need, that we stand with those families who have lost loved ones," he told reporters.

"I know it's hard to believe it in this moment, but I know we will come back stronger."

More than 12 hours after the incident, police still did not have a motive for the attack at the festival, which took place without a dedicated police presence or heavy vehicle barriers.

"There were no known threats to the event or to the Filipino community," Rai said.

The suspect was initially chased down and held by festival-goers until police arrived, witnesses said. The injured were taken to multiple hospitals, police said.

The incident happened shortly after 8 p.m. (0300 GMT) in Vancouver's Sunset neighborhood, an area known for its large Asian population, where the Lapu-Lapu Day Block Party, celebrating a Philippine national hero, was taking place.

One witness told CTV News he saw a black vehicle driving erratically in the area of the festival just before the crowd was struck. A photo of the aftermath posted online showed a dark Audi SUV with both front fenders crumpled and the hood pushed up toward the vehicle's windshield.

While mass casualty attacks are far less common in Canada than in the United States, such incidents have occurred with some regularity north of the border.

At least two of those attacks involved motor vehicles. In 2021, a man killed four members of a Muslim family by running them over with a pickup truck. In 2018, a man drove a rented van into a lunch-hour crowd in Toronto, killing 10 people and injuring 15 along a sidewalk thronged with pedestrians.

'HORRIFIC'

Online images from the scene in Vancouver showed the bodies of victims on the pavement alongside a row of colorful food trucks as others attended to them on a roadway littered with debris including what appeared to be a motorized scooter.

A witness who did not wish to be identified said he had seen about 15 people lying on the ground after the SUV plowed into the crowd. The witness said the driver tried to run but was chased down and held against a fence for about 10 minutes until police arrived.

"I didn't get to see the driver, all I heard was an engine rev," Yoseb Vardeh, co-owner of food truck Bao Buns, said in an interview with Postmedia.

"I got outside my food truck, I looked down the road and there's just bodies everywhere," said Vardeh, his voice breaking with emotion. "He went through the whole block, he went straight down the middle."

The attack came at the end of the festival, following a concert headlined by Filipino-American rapper Apl.de.ap of the Black Eyed Peas, according to Mable Elmore, a member of the British Columbia Legislative Assembly, who attended the event.

"Everybody was happy and getting ready to go. And that's when, that's when the incident happened," Elmore told reporters through tears.

"We are in incredible pain," she said. "We will come together out of this catastrophe through the support and the love from the broad community."

The festival, celebrated especially in the central Philippines, honors Datu Lapu-Lapu, a Filipino chieftain who defeated Spanish forces led by Ferdinand Magellan in the Battle of Mactan in 1521.

The government of British Columbia officially recognized April 27 as Lapu-Lapu Day in 2023, acknowledging the cultural contributions of the Filipino-Canadian community, one of the largest immigrant groups in the province.

The centerpiece of the festival is a multi-block street party featuring Filipino food and traditions, live performances and cultural displays.

(Reporting by Chris Helgren in Vancouver and Allison Lampert in Montreal; additional reporting by David Ljunggren, Devika Nair, Promit Mukherjee, Karen Lema, Harshita Meenaktshi; Writing by Julia Harte and David Morgan; Editing by Mary Milliken, Frank McGurty, Sandra Maler and Michael Perry)