Police in Canada stated they’ve dominated out terrorism as a motivator after a person drove right into a crowd at a Filipino heritage competition in Vancouver on Saturday night time, killing 11 folks and injuring dozens of others.
“While I’m not prepared to speak about the potential motive, I can now say with confidence that the evidence in this case does not lead us to believe this was an act of terrorism,” he stated. “I can also tell you that the person we have in custody does have a significant history of interactions with police and health care professionals related to mental health.”
Proof markers line forty third Avenue in Vancouver, the place a car drove right into a crowd at a road competition on the night time earlier than, on Sunday, April 27, 2025.
Wealthy Lam/The Canadian Press by way of AP)
Rai, who stated they count on the variety of lifeless to rise within the coming days or even weeks, known as the incident a “senseless, heartbreaking act of violence.”
“This is the darkest day in our city’s history,” he stated.
An infographic titled “Car drives into crowd in Vancouver” reveals the place a number of folks have been killed and injured after a car drove into crowds at a road competition in Vancouver.
Ufuk Celal Guzel/Anadolu by way of Getty Photos
Video circulating on social media reveals a younger man in a black hoodie together with his again in opposition to a sequence hyperlink fence, alongside a safety guard and surrounded by bystanders screaming and swearing at him.
“I’m sorry,” the person says, holding his hand to his head.
The competition was being held in a South Vancouver neighborhood. Video posted on social media confirmed victims and particles strewn throughout a protracted stretch of street, with a minimum of seven folks mendacity motionless on the bottom. A black SUV with a crumpled entrance part might be seen in nonetheless images from the scene.
James Cruzat, a Vancouver enterprise proprietor, was on the occasion and heard a automotive rev its engine after which “a loud noise, like a loud bang” that he initially thought is likely to 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 stated.
“It was terrible to see that kind of incident, that situation. It was heartbreaking,” Cruzat stated. “I couldn’t even imagine that it’s actually happening in real life, because normally we see that on TVs or movies. But when you are in that kind of situation, it was really shocking. … You couldn’t do anything but to pray for them.”
Vancouver Mayor Kenneth Sim stated in a social media submit that the town would offer extra info when attainable.
“I am shocked and deeply saddened by the horrific incident at today’s Lapu Lapu Day event,” Sim stated. “Our thoughts are with all those affected and with Vancouver’s Filipino community during this incredibly difficult time.”
Lapu Lapu Day competition
Vancouver had greater than 38,600 residents of Filipino heritage in 2021, representing 5.9% of the town’s whole inhabitants, in keeping with Statistics Canada, the company that conducts the nationwide census.
Lapu Lapu Day celebrates Datu Lapu-Lapu, an Indigenous chieftain who stood as much as Spanish explorers who got here to the Philippines within the sixteenth century. The organizers of the Vancouver occasion stated he “represents the soul of native resistance, a powerful force that helped shape the Filipino identity in the face of colonization.”
Vancouver police look at a black automotive suspected of being concerned after a car drove right into a crowd on the Lapu Lapu Pageant in Vancouver, British Columbia, on Saturday, April 26, 2025.
Wealthy Lam/The Canadian Press by way of AP
Prime Minister Mark Carney and different Canadian political figures posted messages expressing shock on the violence, condolences for victims and assist for the group celebrating its heritage on the competition.
“I offer my deepest condolences to the loved ones of those killed and injured, to the Filipino Canadian community, and to everyone in Vancouver. We are all mourning with you,” Carney wrote.
“As we wait to learn more, our thoughts are with the victims and their families — and Vancouver’s Filipino community, who were coming together today to celebrate resilience,” wrote Jagmeet Singh, chief of the New Democratic Occasion, who was on the competition earlier within the day.
“My thoughts are with the Filipino community and all the victims targeted by this senseless attack. Thank you to the first responders who are at the scene as we wait to hear more,” Conservative Occasion chief Pierre Poilievre wrote.
David Eby, the premier of British Columbia, the province the place Vancouver is positioned, stated he was shocked and heartbroken. “We are in contact with the City of Vancouver and will provide any support needed,” Eby wrote.
Extra from CBS Information
