Vancouver ramming attack suspect charged with murder as hundreds attend
vigils for victims
[April 28, 2025]
By JIM MORRIS, CLAIRE RUSH and ROB GILLIES
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — A 30-year-old man was charged with
multiple counts of murder on allegations he killed 11 people when he
rammed a crowd of people at a Filipino heritage festival in Vancouver,
as hundreds attended vigils across the city for the victims and the
Canadian prime minister visited the site on the eve of a federal
election.
Kai-Ji Adam Lo, 30, was charged with eight counts of second degree
murder in a video appearance before a judge on Sunday, hours after he
was arrested at the scene, said Damienne Darby, spokeswoman for British
Columbia prosecutors. Lo has not yet entered a plea.
Investigators ruled out terrorism as a motive and said more charges are
possible. They said Lo had a history of mental health issues.
An attorney for Lo was not listed in online court documents and The
Associated Press wasn’t immediately able to reach an attorney
representing him.
Those killed were between the ages of 5 and 65, officials said. About
two dozen people were injured, some critically, when the black Audi SUV
sped down a closed street just after 8 p.m. Saturday and struck people
attending the Lapu Lapu Day festival. Authorities had not released
victims' names by Sunday evening.
Nathaly Nairn and her 15-year-old daughter carried flowers to one of the
vigils. They had attended the festival on Saturday, and Nairn recounted
seeing the damaged SUV and bodies on the ground.
“Something really dark happened last night,” Nairn said, as she and her
daughter wiped away tears.
Emily Daniels also brought a bouquet. “It’s sad. Really sad,” she said.
“I can’t believe something like this could happen so close to home.”
Police Interim Chief Steve Rai called it “the darkest day in Vancouver’s
history.” There was no indication of a motive, but Rai said the suspect
has “a significant history of interactions with police and health care
professionals related to mental health.”
Video of the aftermath showed the dead and injured along a narrow street
in South Vancouver lined by food trucks. The front of the Audi SUV was
smashed in.
Kris Pangilinan, who brought his pop-up clothing and lifestyle booth to
the festival, saw the vehicle enter slowly past a barricade before the
driver accelerated in an area packed with people after a concert. He
said hearing the sounds of people screaming and bodies hitting the
vehicle will never leave his mind.
“He slammed on the gas, barreled through the crowd,” Pangilinan said.
"It looked like a bowling ball hitting bowling pins and all the pins are
flying into the air.”
Suspect detained by bystanders before the police arrived
Rai said the suspect was arrested after initially being apprehended by
bystanders.
Video circulating on social media showed a young man in a black hoodie
with his back against a chain-link fence, alongside a security guard and
surrounded by bystanders screaming and swearing at him.
“I’m sorry,” the man said, holding his hand to his head. Rai declined to
comment on the video.
Prime Minister Mark Carney canceled his first campaign event and two
major rallies on the final day of the election campaign before Monday’s
vote.
“Last night families lost a sister, a brother, a mother, father, son or
a daughter. Those families are living every family's nightmare,” Carney
said. “And to them and to the many others who were injured, to the
Filipino Canadian community, and to everyone in Vancouver, I would like
to offer my deepest condolences."
Carney joined British Columbia Premier David Eby and community leaders
Sunday evening in Vancouver.
“In this incredibly difficult moment, we will comfort the grieving, care
for one another, and united in common purpose,” Carney posted in French
and English on X along with a photo of him lighting a candle at a
makeshift memorial near the scene of the attack.
The tragedy was reminiscent of an attack in 2018, when a man used a van
to kill 10 pedestrians in Toronto.
Witnesses describe how they leaped out of the way
Carayn Nulada said that she pulled her granddaughter and grandson off
the street and used her body to shield them from the SUV. She said that
her daughter suffered a narrow escape.
“The car hit her arm and she fell down, but she got up, looking for us,
because she is scared,” said Nulada, who described children screaming,
and pale-faced victims lying on the ground or wedged under vehicles.
[to top of second column]
|
Gerard Gaba, left, and his mother Wilma Gaba, attend a vigil after a
vehicle drove into a crowd during a Filipino heritage festival in
Vancouver, British Columbia, Sunday, April 27, 2025. (AP
Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
“I saw people running and my daughter was shaking," Nulada said.
Nulada was in Vancouver General Hospital’s emergency room Sunday
morning, trying to find news about her brother, who was run down in
the attack and suffered multiple broken bones.
Doctors identified him by presenting the family with his wedding
ring in a pill bottle and said that he was stable, but would be
facing surgery.
James Cruzat, a Vancouver business owner, was at the celebration and
heard a car rev its engine and then “a loud noise, like a loud bang”
that he initially thought might be a gunshot.
“We saw people on the road crying, others were like running,
shouting, or even screaming, asking for help. So we tried to go
there just to check what was really actually happening until we
found some bodies on the ground. Others were lifeless, others like,
you know, injured,” Cruzat said.
Vincent Reynon, 17, was leaving the festival when he saw police
rushing in. People were crying and he saw scattered bodies.
“It was like something straight out of a horror movie or a
nightmare,” he said.
Adonis Quita said when he saw the SUV ramming through the crowd, his
first reaction was to drag his 9-year-old son out of the area. The
boy kept saying “I’m scared, I’m scared,” Quita recalled. Later they
prayed together.
His son had just relocated to Vancouver from the Philippines with
his mother to reunite with Quita, who has lived here since 2024.
Quita said he worries the child will struggle to adjust to life in
Canada after witnessing the horrific event.
Vancouver Mayor Kenneth Sim said the city had “suffered its darkest
day."
“I know many of us are fearful and feel uneasy,” said the mayor. “I
know it’s hard to feel this way right now, but Vancouver is still a
safe city.”
Vancouver's large Filipino population was honoring a national
hero
Vancouver had more than 38,600 residents of Filipino heritage in
2021, representing 5.9% of the city’s total population, according to
Statistics Canada, the agency that conducts the national census.
Lapu Lapu Day celebrates Datu Lapu-Lapu, an Indigenous chieftain who
stood up to Spanish explorers who came to the Philippines in the
16th century. The organizers of the Vancouver event, which was in
its second year, said he “represents the soul of native resistance,
a powerful force that helped shape the Filipino identity in the face
of colonization.”
Eby said the province won't let the tragedy define the celebration.
He urged people to channel their rage into helping those affected.
“I don’t think there is a British Columbian that hasn't been touched
in some way by the Filipino community," he said. "You can’t go to a
place that delivers and not meet a member of that community in the
long-term care home or hospitals, childcare or schools. This is a
community that gives and gives and yesterday was a celebration of
their culture.”
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. issued a statement
expressing sympathy with the victims and their families.
“The Philippine Consulate General in Vancouver is working with
Canadian authorities to ensure that the incident will be thoroughly
investigated, and that the victims and their families are supported
and consoled,” he said.
The Philippine government is coordinating with local police to
gather more details about victims and the investigation, while the
Vancouver consulate has established a hotline for families,
presidential palace press officer Claire Castro told reporters in
Manila on Monday.
___
Gillies reported from Toronto. Associated 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 City, Utah, contributed to this report.
All contents © copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved |
