11 killed after vehicle plows into Filipino street festival in Vancouver; police rule out terrorism

VANCOUVER British Columbia AP Vancouver police ruled out terrorism in a car ramming attack that killed people at a Filipino heritage festival in the Canadian city saying the suspect has a history of mental soundness issues Dozens of others were injured selected seriously as the ramming shook the country before a federal poll A man driving a black Audi SUV entered the street just after p m Saturday and struck people attending the Lapu Lapu Day festival A Vancouver man was arrested It is the darkest day in Vancouver s history Vancouver Police Interim Chief Steve Rai stated a news conference The person we have in custody does have a considerable history of interactions with police and physical condition care professionals related to mental wellness he declared Video of the aftermath shows the dead and injured along a narrow street in South Vancouver lined by food trucks The front of the driver s SUV is smashed in Kris Pangilinan who brought his pop-up clothing and lifestyle booth to the festival saw the car enter past the barricade slowly before the driver slammed on the gas in an area that was packed with people after a concert He explained hearing the sounds of bodies hitting the carriage will never leave his mind He sideswiped someone on his right side and I was like Oh yo yo And then he slammed on the gas he mentioned And the sound of the acceleration it sounds like an F car about to start a race He slammed on the gas barreled through the crowd And all I can remember is seeing bodies flying up in the air higher than the food trucks themselves and landing on the ground and people yelling and screaming It looked like a bowling ball hitting bowling pins and all the pins are flying into the air Pangilinan disclosed that it would be hard to believe that someone has specific malice against the Filipino people Suspect was detained by bystanders before the police arrived A -year-old Vancouver man was arrested at the scene Rai disclosed that the man was arrested after initially being apprehended by bystanders Video circulating on social media shows a young man in a black hoodie with his back against a chain-link fence alongside a safety guard and surrounded by bystanders screaming and swearing at him I m sorry the man says 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 referendum 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 revealed And to them and to the multiple others who were injured to the Filipino Canadian society and to everyone in Vancouver I would like to offer my deepest condolences Carney planned to join British Columbia Premier David Eby and society leaders Sunday evening in Vancouver In a man used a van to kill pedestrians in Toronto Eight women and two men died Alek Minassian who was exposed guilty recounted police that he belonged to an online district of sexually frustrated men chosen of whom have plotted attacks on people who have sex Bystanders describe how they leaped out of the way Carayn Nulada reported that she pulled her granddaughter and grandson off the street and used her body to shield them from the SUV She announced 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 reported Nulada who described children screaming and pale-faced casualties lying on the ground or wedged under vehicles I saw people running and my daughter was shaking Nulada was in Vancouver General Hospital s urgency room early 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 reported 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 genuinely happening until we ascertained selected bodies on the ground Others were lifeless others like you know injured Cruzat announced Adonis Quita commented when he saw the SUV ramming through the crowd his first reaction was to drag his -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 Quita mentioned he worries the child will struggle to adjust to life in Canada after witnessing the horrific event Vancouver Mayor Kenneth Sim revealed in a social media post that the city would provide more information when doable I am shocked and deeply saddened by the horrific case at at present s Lapu Lapu Day event Sim noted Our thoughts are with all those affected and with Vancouver s Filipino group during this incredibly challenging time Vancouver s large Filipino population was honoring a national hero Vancouver had more than residents of Filipino heritage in representing 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 th century The organizers of the Vancouver event which was in its second year disclosed that he represents the soul of native resistance a powerful force that helped shape the Filipino identity in the face of colonization Eby disclosed 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 specific way by the Filipino area he reported You can t go to a place that delivers and not meet a member of that society in the long-term care home or hospitals childcare or schools This is a region that gives and gives and the day before today was a celebration of their values Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr issued a comment expressing sympathy with the casualties and their families The Philippine Consulate General in Vancouver is working with Canadian leadership to ensure that the circumstance will be thoroughly investigated and that the casualties and their families are supported and consoled he disclosed The country s Department of Foreign Affairs commented that we remember the million strong Filipino society in Canada and pray for their continued strength and resilience