VANCOUVER, British Columbia — A man drove a vehicle into a crowd at a Filipino heritage festival in the Canadian city of Vancouver on Saturday night, killing 11 people and injuring more than 20 others. The attack shook the country ahead of federal elections.
The vehicle entered the street at 8:14 p.m. Saturday and struck people attending the Lapu Lapu Day festival, the Vancouver Police Department said in a social media post.
A Vancouver man was arrested. Police said they are confident that it’s not an act of terrorism.
“An investigation is ongoing to determine how and why this horrific attack occurred. Authorities have confirmed one person is custody and it is believed they acted alone,” said Prime Minister Mark Carney, who canceled his first campaign event on the final day of the election campaign ahead of Monday’s vote.
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 vehicle enter past the barricade slowly before the driver slammed on the gas in an area that was packed with people after a concert. He said hearing the sounds of bodies hitting the vehicle will never leave his mind.
“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,” Pangilinan said. “It looked like a bowling ball hitting bowling pins and all the pins are flying into the air.”
Suspect detained by bystanders
A 30-year-old Vancouver man was arrested at the scene, police said.
“We are confident that this incident was not an act of terrorism,” the police department posted early Sunday.
Interim Vancouver Police Chief Steve Rai told a news conference 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 security guard and surrounded by bystanders screaming and swearing at him.
“I’m sorry,” the man says, holding his hand to his head.
Rai said the person in custody was a “lone male” who was “known to police in certain circumstances.”
Carney said authorities do not believe there is any active threat to Canadians.
“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, fighting back tears. “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.”
In 2018, a man used a van to kill 10 pedestrians in Toronto. Eight women and two men died. Alek Minassian, who was found guilty, told police he was a member of an online community of sexually frustrated men, some of whom have plotted attacks on people who have sex.
Vancouver Mayor Kenneth Sim wrote in a social media post that the city would provide more information when possible.
“I am shocked and deeply saddened by the horrific incident at today’s Lapu Lapu Day event,” Sim wrote. “Our thoughts are with all those affected and with Vancouver’s Filipino community during this incredibly difficult time.”
