Kira Salim from LinkedIn page.Supplied
A trans teacher-counsellor who moved to Canada from Brazil so they could more safely be queer in public and an energetic five-year-old who was about to graduate from kindergarten are among those who were killed when a vehicle barrelled into a crowded street festival in Vancouver.
Kira Salim, 34, was identified as a victim in the festival attack by the New Westminster school district, which said the death has left friends and colleagues shocked and heartbroken.
Mx. Salim, who was trans and non-binary, arrived in New Westminster from Brazil three years ago looking for a safer place to be queer and out, friends said.
“They were such a big, energetic, beautiful, smiling human,” said Nadia Sorban, who met Mx. Salim when they taught at the American School in Rio de Janeiro a decade ago.
“It doesn’t feel fair for someone so caring and full of life to have been taken this way.”
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Mx. Salim was among those at the Lapu Lapu Day block party in Vancouver on Saturday when a black SUV hurtled down the crowded, food truck-lined street, striking dozens of people without slowing. Eleven died, including Mx. Salim and the mother of a friend who accompanied them.
Vancouver Police Sergeant Steve Addison said Monday that the news is going to get harder before it gets easier.
“As we learn more about the victims in this horrific attack, the trauma is going to increase,” he said.
As of Monday, 16 others remained in hospital, according to B.C.’s Ministry of Health. Police said seven were in critical condition and three in serious condition.
A total of 32 patients were rushed to various hospitals Saturday; in all, 13 patients have been discharged with non-life-threatening injuries. Fundraising campaigns have been launched in efforts to support the families of the dead and injured.
Adam Lo has been charged with eight counts of second-degree murder, with more charges expected. Police say they are confident that the attack was not an act of terrorism, though a motive remains unclear. Mr. Lo had extensive contact with police and health professionals related to his mental health – including one with police from a neighbouring jurisdiction one day before the attack – but never of a criminal nature, police said.
Sgt. Addison said police executed a search warrant on Mr. Lo’s home to search for and seize evidence, and that whether there was any planning or intentionality to the attack will form part of their investigation.
A family of three, Richard Le, his wife Linh Hoang and five-year-old Katie Le, were killed at the Lapu Lapu Day festival Saturday night. The family leaves behind their 16-year-old son, Andy.HO/The Canadian Press
Richard Le was also at the block party, with his wife Linh Hoang and their five-year-old daughter Katie, said his brother, Toan Le. At about 8 p.m., he texted his 16-year-old son Andy, who had stayed home to do homework, that they were about to return.
The three were killed minutes later.
“If I was to tell my brother and to everyone else, just cherish your loved ones and your friends, family, because you never know when they might not be around and you won’t have a second chance,” Toan Le said. “Take advantage of the time you have [with] them and cherish those people that you love.”
He described Katie has “super energetic,” saying “she had a very lovable personality, and she really loved just being around people.”
Mr. Le said his sister-in-law was a dedicated mother to Katie and stepmother to Andy.
“She’s a really good person,” he said.
Richard Le sold real estate for a Vancouver firm and coached badminton and tennis.
A statement from Royal Pacific Realty, where Mr. Le worked, said it has received an “outpouring of shock, grief, and condolences from colleagues, friends, and clients who knew and admired Richard.”
Mohamad Sariman, a food truck operator at the Filipino festival that was attacked on Saturday night, says he initially thought the incident which left 11 dead was an explosion.
The Globe and Mail
Mx. Salim came to Canada with their husband, Kim Gutman, their rescue dog Zoe, and five cats. Mx. Salim was a drag king, a dandy, a model, and the lead singer of a group called Bloco Marcha Nerd.
Within six months of arriving in Canada, they had changed their name and began experimenting with fashion, cutting their hair short and trying on a more androgynous look. They loved the colour orange, dark nail polish, leopard prints.
They were tall – 6’2 – and recently took up roller skating and voguing – a dance style inspired by the Harlem ballroom scene of the 1980s. They loved hiking and taking cold plunges in mountain rivers. Recently, they earned a driver’s licence and bought a car with Mr. Gutman, allowing the two of them to better explore B.C.’s backcountry.
“Their trans identity was really important to them,” Ms. Sorban said. “And they were getting braver and louder and prouder about it every day.”
Mx. Salim was born in Rio to an Argentine mother and a Brazilian father, with whom they remained close. They taught high school music classes in Brazil – rock band, music theory and concert band.
The first couple years in B.C. were a struggle. Mx. Salim’s teaching qualifications were not recognized. For a while, they worked at a Kitsilano music store.
But they earned a master’s degree in psychology and, last fall, began working as a counsellor at Fraser River Middle School, a “life changing” experience, according to Ms. Sorban.
Mx. Salim felt that they had finally made it, she adds. “They were doing the thing they came for. It was all happening. And they were so happy.”
The sitting at the B.C. Legislature in Victoria on Monday began with a prayer by Prince George-Mackenzie MLA Kiel Giddens, who addressed the national day of mourning for injured and killed workers, as well as the victims of Saturday’s attack.
Speaker Raj Chouhan then led the members in a moment of silence for those affected by the ramming before adjourning the session until Tuesday.
With a report from The Canadian Press
Editor’s note: This article has been updated to correct the name of Richard Le's surviving 16-year-old son. His name is Andy.