The suspect in a Canadian car-ramming assault that killed 11 folks at a Filipino avenue get together acted deliberately and had a historical past of psychological well being points, police mentioned Sunday, warning that the loss of life toll may rise.
While no motive has been confirmed for the Saturday night assault in Vancouver, authorities have dominated out terrorism.
The assault, which shocked the nation only a day earlier than a common election targeted on U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Canadian items and his risk to annex Canada, has left the nation reeling.
Police Chief Steve Rai raised the loss of life toll from 9, revealing that the 30-year-old suspect, driving a black Audi SUV, had a “significant history” of interactions with each regulation enforcement and psychological well being professionals.
The Filipino neighborhood had gathered in Vancouver’s Sunset on Fraser neighborhood when festivalgoers had been struck by the SUV.
The celebration, referred to as the Lapu Lapu Festival, commemorates a Filipino anti-colonial chief from the sixteenth century.
Prime Minister Mark Carney, in a short handle to the nation, teared up as he spoke in regards to the tragedy.
“Last night, families lost a sister, a brother, a mother, a father, a son, or a daughter,” he mentioned. “Those families are living every family’s nightmare.”
An Agence France-Presse (AFP) reporter noticed law enforcement officials on the scene Saturday night, with components of the pageant venue cordoned off.
Footage posted on-line and verified by AFP reveals the automobile with a broken hood parked on a avenue suffering from particles, meters from first help crews tending to folks mendacity on the bottom.
Eyewitness Dale Selipe informed the Vancouver Sun that she noticed injured youngsters on the road after the automobile rammed into the group.
“There was a lady with her eyes staring up, one of her legs was already broken. One person was holding her hand, trying to comfort her,” Selipe informed the newspaper.
‘Bodies in every single place’
Festival safety guard Jen Idaba-Castaneto informed an area news website that she noticed our bodies in every single place.
“You don’t know who to help, here or there,” she mentioned.
Conservative chief Pierre Poilievre mentioned in a tweet: “I am shocked by the horrific news emerging from Vancouver’s Lapu Lapu Day Festival tonight.”
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos mentioned in an announcement he was “completely shattered to hear about the terrible incident.”
In the capital Ottawa, Julie Dunbar, a semi-retiree out for a morning run, recalled an assault in 2018 in Toronto wherein a person in a van killed 11 folks.
“So it has occurred before, but I fear for the society that we live in, that these things can happen,” mentioned Dunbar, 72.
Saturday’s occasion featured a parade, a movie screening, dancing, and a live performance, with two members of the Black Eyed Peas featured on the lineup printed by the organizers.
Lapu Lapu Day is widely known within the Philippines in remembrance of Indigenous chief Lapulapu, who led his males to defeat Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan in battle in 1521.
“This is the darkest day in our city’s history,” Vancouver police mentioned in an announcement.
Britain’s King Charles III, Canada’s head of state, mentioned on Sunday he was “profoundly saddened” by the deaths.
Canadians go to the polls Monday after an election race the place candidates have wooed voters on points together with rising dwelling prices and standing as much as Trump.
Carney is favored to win after assuring voters he can stand as much as Washington’s barrage of sweeping tariffs and threats of annexation.
Source: www.dailysabah.com