The Vancouver Police have confirmed that the car attack on a festive crowd celebrating Lapu Lapu Day was not a terrorist attack. The 30-year-old accused, believed to be an Asian man from a video going viral on social media in the aftermath of the attack, was known to police “in certain circumstances,” interim police chief Steve Rai said in a midnight news briefing after nine people were killed and multiple others were injured. The driver of the black SUV slammed into the crowd after 8pm near East 41st Avenue and Fraser Street, where the Lapu Lapu Day Block Party was winding down, after drawing up to 100,000 people through the day.
“We are confident that this incident was not an act of terrorism,” Vancouver police said on X.
Liberal Leader Mark Carney posted on X that he is “devastated” and offered his condolences to the “loved ones of those killed and injured.” Carney had been scheduled to spend part of Sunday in British Columbia, but his campaign issued a statement early Sunday saying that his plans have been delayed.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh made a campaign stop at the festival and left minutes before the incident happened. “This is a festival with kids there. There are families there,” he said. “I don’t have the words to describe the pain that I’m feeling right now thinking about the lives that were lost,” Singh said.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said on X, “My thoughts are with the Filipino community and all the victims targeted by this senseless attack.”
The suspect was held by the crowd until the police arrived and in a viral video he was seen saying sorry to the enraged crowd. The suspect looked dazed and lost in the unverified video.
Lapu Lapu Day is an annual festival organized by British Columbia’s Filipino community. No motive has been given for the attack while officials are investigating the mental state of the suspect.
