Murder charges filed against suspect in ramming attack on Vancouver street festival that killed 11

VANCOUVER British Columbia AP Murder charges were filed Sunday against a suspect in a weekend car ramming attack that killed people between the ages of and and injured dozens at a Filipino heritage festival in the Canadian city of Vancouver The British Columbia Prosecution System charged Kai-Ji Adam Lo with eight counts of second degree murder and noted more charges were doable Investigators ruled out terrorism and stated Lo had a history of mental medical issues Lo a Vancouver resident appeared in court and remains in custody prosecutors disclosed Various of the injured were in critical condition as the tragedy shook Canada before a federal polling Officers had not distributed casualties names by Sunday evening A man driving a black Audi SUV entered the street just after p m Saturday and struck people attending the Lapu Lapu Day festival He was arrested at the scene It is the darkest day in Vancouver s history Police Interim Chief Steve Rai notified a news conference Investigators ruled out terrorism The person we have in custody does have a substantial history of interactions with police and fitness care professionals related to mental physical condition he announced 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 automobile enter past the barricade slowly before the driver slammed on the gas in an area that was packed with people after a concert He revealed 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 announced 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 declared 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 explained 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 measure 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 ballot 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 stated And to them and to the several 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 public 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 identified guilty stated police that he belonged to an online neighborhood of sexually frustrated men specific of whom have plotted attacks on people who have sex Bystanders describe how they leaped out of the way Carayn Nulada stated that she pulled her granddaughter and grandson off the street and used her body to shield them from the SUV She mentioned 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 declared 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 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 stated 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 literally happening until we located certain bodies on the ground Others were lifeless others like you know injured Cruzat noted Vincent Reynon was leaving the festival when he saw police rushing in People were crying and he saw bodies on the ground It was like something straight out of a horror movie or a nightmare he commented 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 noted he worries the child will struggle to adjust to life in Canada after witnessing the horrific event Vancouver Mayor Kenneth Sim mentioned the city had suffered its darkest day I know numerous of us are fearful and feel uneasy explained 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 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 reported 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 region he reported You can t go to a place that delivers and not meet a member of that district in the long-term care home or hospitals childcare or schools This is a society that gives and gives and the previous 24 hours was a celebration of their values Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr issued a report expressing sympathy with the casualties and their families The Philippine Consulate General in Vancouver is working with Canadian executives to ensure that the case will be thoroughly investigated and that the casualties and their families are supported and consoled he reported The country s Department of Foreign Affairs explained that we remember the million strong Filipino society in Canada and pray for their continued strength and resilience Gillies published from Toronto Associated Press journalists Manuel Valdes and Lindsey Wasson in Vancouver and Hannah Schoenbaum in Salt Lake City Utah contributed to this overview Source