Members of the public attach flowers to a fence, near the scene where a vehicle drove into crowd at a street festival the night before, in Vancouver, Sunday April 27, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Rich LamRich Lam/The Canadian Press
A vehicle attack at a Filipino street festival in Vancouver on April 26 killed 11 people and injured dozens more, and a suspect has been charged with multiple counts of murder in the incident.
Vancouver mourns victims of vehicle attack that left 11 dead at street festival
The attack at a Lapu-Lapu Day block party on the city’s east side has shaken the Lower Mainland and the tight-knit Filipino community is mourning deeply. Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim called it the “darkest day” in the city’s history.
Here’s a look at what we know so far.
The attack
A Lapu-Lapu festival in East Vancouver had just wrapped up and hundreds of people were leaving the grounds shortly after 8 p.m. local time on Saturday, April 26, when a man drove an SUV through a side street designated for food trucks.
The vehicle struck and threw several people in the air before coming to a stop a short distance down the stretch of 43rd Avenue near Fraser Street, adjacent to John Oliver Secondary School where the festival took place.
Police confirmed witnesses and bystanders held the suspect at the scene Saturday night until police arrived.
Read more about how the deadly Lapu-Lapu attack unfolded.
Three eyewitnesses describe what they saw when a car struck revellers at a Filipino street festival in Vancouver on Saturday night.
The Associated Press
How many people were killed or injured?
At a news conference the morning after the attack, Vancouver police said they have confirmed 11 people were killed. The youngest was a five-year-old girl, the eldest a 65-year-old man.
“We believe dozens more are injured, some seriously, and the number of dead could rise in the coming days or weeks,” said Interim Vancouver Police Chief Steve Rai.
A total of 32 patients were rushed to various hospitals the night of the attack. As of Monday, 16 remained in hospital, according to B.C.’s Ministry of Health. Police said seven were in critical condition and three in serious condition.
Reeling from attack, Vancouver’s Filipino community vows to stand strong
Who are the victims of the attack?
Victims of Vancouver van attack. clockwise from top left: Jendhel May Sico, Rizza Azzir Pagkanlungan, Kira Salim, Richard Le, Linh Hoang, and Katie Le, Maria Victoria (Vicky) Bjarnason, Jen Darbellay, Daniel Samper, Glitza Maria Caicedo and Glitza Daniela Samper.Supplied
All 11 victims killed have now been publicly identified by family and loved ones. Many of them, like Rizza Azzir Pagkanlungan and Kira Salim, came to Canada for a better life.
Also killed were a five-year-old girl and her parents, a woman visiting her children in Vancouver, a painter and mother of two, a young woman who loved to run, and a 30-year-old veterinary assistant and her two parents who had fled from Colombia to Canada more than 20 years ago.
Read more about the victims of the Lapu-Lapu festival attack.
Who is the suspect?
Kai-Ji Adam Lo, 30, was charged with eight counts of murder on Sunday afternoon in relation to the attack, according to court documents. Police say more charges are expected.
Chief Rai said Sunday the suspect has a “significant history” of interactions with police and the health care system for mental health issues, but there were no interactions “immediately” leading up to the attack.
Lo was under mental-health supervision by his local health authority and meant to be abiding by certain conditions after being released from a forced stint in hospital at the time of the attack, a source told The Globe and Mail.
Accused in Vancouver festival vehicle attack was under mental-health supervision, source says
According to neighbours, police were often seen at Mr. Lo’s house just seven minutes from the scene of the attack — including earlier this month. And posts made for online fundraising efforts suggest Mr. Lo and his mother lived in an environment that was itself beset by tragedy.
Mr. Lo remains in police custody, and is next set to appear in court in Vancouver on May 26, according to court records. A judge has granted him a psychiatric assessment to determine his fitness to stand trial.
Read more about what we know about Adam Lo’s life and family here.
Police say terrorism not a factor
Police said in the hours after the attack they were “confident that this incident was not an act of terrorism,” but declined to say what the possible motive or cause may be.
Chief Rai said investigators do have some details of the interactions between the suspect and bystanders immediately after the incident, but said it would be inappropriate to comment further while the investigation is continuing.
John Oliver
Secondary
School
Approximate location of incident
E. 41ST AVE.
Memorial
South
Park
E. 43RD AVE.
Direction of
vehicle
VANCOUVER
E. 49TH. AVE.
Lapu Lapu Day
Festival area
E. 51ST. AVE.
Detail
300 m
john sopinski/the globe and mail, Source:vancouver police;
lapulapuday.com; openstreetmap
John Oliver
Secondary
School
Approximate location of incident
E. 41ST AVE.
Memorial
South
Park
E. 43RD AVE.
Direction of
vehicle
VANCOUVER
E. 49TH. AVE.
Lapu Lapu Day
Festival area
E. 51ST. AVE.
Detail
300 m
john sopinski/the globe and mail, Source:vancouver police;
lapulapuday.com; openstreetmap
Approximate location of incident
John Oliver
Secondary
School
E. 41ST AVE.
E. 43RD AVE.
Memorial
South
Park
Direction of
vehicle
VANCOUVER
E. 49TH. AVE.
Lapu Lapu Day
Festival area
E. 51ST. AVE.
Detail
300 m
john sopinski/the globe and mail, Source:vancouver police;
lapulapuday.com; openstreetmap
What safety measures were in place at the festival?
Police say festival organizers were provided with wooden barriers to block off the road for the event, but it is not yet known whether they were in place when the vehicle drove into the crowd.
Some witnesses said the barriers had at times during the day been removed to allow vendors and performers to pass through.
Chief Rai said police worked with the City of Vancouver to conduct a risk assessment before the festival, as they do with more than 3,200 events every year. He said that, in consultation with the city and festival organizers, it was decided that dedicated police officers and heavy-vehicle barricades wouldn’t be used at the festival site.
Mr. Sim, the mayor, ordered a full review of the risk assessments and safety protocols for events licensed by the city, in co-operation with police, the afternoon after the attack.
A preliminary report from that review released May 16 found all necessary safety precautions were taken by organizers, police and city staff in the planning of the festival before the attack took place. A full report is expected in August.
B.C. Premier David Eby has also said he will order a full public inquiry into the attack if the criminal trial does not provide the answers needed.
Who was at the Lapu-Lapu festival?
Thousands of people are estimated to have attended the festival throughout the day, among them several high-profile attendees and dozens of performers, including members of the Black Eyed Peas.
Then-NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh visited the festival earlier in the day as he campaigned in Vancouver before Monday’s federal election, and addressed the incident in nearby Burnaby, B.C., later that day. The Liberal MP for Vancouver South, Harjit Sajjan, made his way to the scene late Saturday.
Several members of Vancouver City Council, including Lenny Zhou and Sean Orr, also attended the event and returned later in the day. Mr. Sim, who was out of town at the time of the incident, returned immediately to Vancouver the next day.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh at a news conference in Burnaby, B.C., on Saturday after nine people were killed at the Vancouver Lapu Lapu Day block party.DARRYL DYCK/The Canadian Press
How did leaders respond?
Mr. Singh said Saturday he doesn’t “have the words to describe the pain that I’m feeling now at the lives that were lost. … We don’t know the motives, we don’t know any of the details. But ultimately, this is something that targeted the Filipino community and the Filipino community right now is reeling."
Liberal Leader Mark Carney said he was briefed on the incident overnight and spoke with the B.C. Premier on Sunday.
“Last night, families lost a sister, a brother, a mother, a father, a son or a daughter. Those families are living every family’s nightmare,” Mr. Carney said in Hamilton Sunday.
“And to them and to the many others who were injured, to the Filipino-Canadian community, and to everyone in the broader Lower Mainland Vancouver, I would like to offer my deepest condolences and my wishes for strength and compassion in this tragic time.”
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre visited a Filipino church in Mississauga on Sunday and said all of Canada stands with their community in mourning.
“I hope that we can pray for those who’ve been lost and for those who survive in mourning, their loved ones, their brothers, sisters, daughters, sons, mothers, fathers, all of them will have a deep hole in their hearts today,” Mr. Poilievre said.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said on Sunday he was “shattered to hear about the terrible incident” in Vancouver. Mr. Marcos said the Philippine Consulate General in Vancouver was working with Canadian authorities to ensure that the incident would be thoroughly investigated.
Mr. Sim expressed his shock and heartbreak in a statement on social media late Saturday. Speaking to media on Sunday at City Hall, he said the attack must be a wake-up call for all levels of government to increase services for people struggling with serious mental health issues.
“We need that mandatory care faster, we need more of it and faster,” he said. “We can’t take a government approach to this, lives are on the line. Communities are at stake.”
B.C. Premier David Eby said in a post on X Saturday that he’s “shocked and heartbroken” to hear about the lives lost and those injured at the festival.
French President Emmanuel Macron made a post on X saying he extends France’s solidarity with Canadians and the Filipino community, and that his country’s “thoughts are with the victims and their loved ones.”
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukrainians “deeply share the pain of Canadians, Vancouver residents, and the Canadian Filipino community” and urged all to stay strong.
King Charles said he was saddened by the news.
“Both my wife and I were profoundly saddened to learn of the dreadful attack and utterly tragic loss of life in Vancouver, which took place as the Filipino community came together to mark the celebration of one of their most special festivals,” he said in a statement posted on X.
What is Lapu-Lapu Day?
Lapu-Lapu Day is named after an Indigenous resistance fighter in the Philippines who fought against Spanish colonization in the 16th century.
Saturday’s event was the second annual street celebration of Lapu-Lapu Day in Vancouver, and organizers had said it was an opportunity to mark “the enduring impact on Filipino values, notably the spirit of bayanihan – the collective community effort.”
Filipino BC, which presented the event, said in a statement early Sunday morning that it is devastated for the families and victims.
“We are still finding the words to express the deep heartbreak brought on by this senseless tragedy.”
Nine people were killed after a man drove through a crowd at a Filipino community festival in Vancouver on Saturday, April 26. A 30-year-old man was arrested at the scene, but police say they were confident it was not an act of terror.
Reuters
With reports from Nancy Macdonald, Andrea Woo, Mike Hager, Jana Pruden, Alexandra Posadzki, Temur Durrani, and The Canadian Press.