WARNING – GRAPHIC CONTENT: In a video shared online, a man believed to be a driver accused of ploughing through a festival in Vancouver was seen being apprehended by bystanders
Shocking aftermath as SUV drove into crowd in Vancouver
A man accused of driving a vehicle into a crowd at a festival in the Canadian city of Vancouver, killing at least nine people, had a sick two-word response when he was confronted by bystanders at the scene.
Police said the vehicle entered the street at 8.14pm on Saturday and struck people attending the Lapu Lapu Day festival. The country’s Prime Minister Mark Carney, who cancelled his first event on the final day of the election campaign ahead of Monday’s vote, confirmed nine people died and 20 were injured in the incident last night.
Interim Vancouver Police Chief Steve Rai told a news conference that the man was arrested after initially being apprehended by bystanders. Now, 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.
READ MORE: Vancouver festival horror as nine killed after car ploughs into crowd
“I’m sorry,” the man replies, holding his hand to his head. Mr Rai declined to comment on the video, but said the person in custody was a “lone male” who was “known to police in certain circumstances”. Video filmed at the scene shows the dead and injured along a narrow street in South Vancouver lined by food trucks. The front of the driver’s SUV was smashed in.
Witnesses described seeing “bodies everywhere” in the aftermath of the incident, which was described by the police as a car ramming attack. Yoseb Vardeh, co-owner of a food truck called Bao Buns, told Postmedia: “I got outside my food truck, I looked down the road and there’s just bodies everywhere. He went through the whole block, he went straight down the middle.”
Jen Idaba-Castaneto, who was working as a security guard at the festival, told the local news site Vancouver Is Awesome: “You don’t know who to help, here or there. It’s so shocking.” PM Carney said an investigation is ongoing “to determine how and why this horrific attack occurred.”
He added: “Authorities have confirmed one person is custody and it is believed they acted alone.” The Vancouver Police Department said the arrested man is 30 years old. They added that the department’s Major Crime Section is overseeing the investigation. “At this time, we are confident that this incident was not an act of terrorism,” the police department posted early on Sunday.
Mr 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,” he 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.”
Vancouver Mayor Kenneth Sim said 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,” he said. “Our thoughts are with all those affected and with Vancouver’s Filipino community during this incredibly difficult time.”
The Canadian city had more than 38,600 residents of Filipino heritage in 2021, representing 5.9% of the total population, according to Statistics Canada, the agency that conducts the national census. Lapu Lapu Day celebrates Datu Lapu-Lapu, an Indigenous chieftain who stood up to Spanish explorers who came to the Philippines in the 16th century.
The organisers of the event – which was in its second year – said it “represents the soul of native resistance, a powerful force that helped shape the Filipino identity in the face of colonization.” Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. issued a statement expressing sympathy with the victims and their families.
“The Philippine Consulate General in Vancouver is working with Canadian authorities to ensure that the incident will be thoroughly investigated, and that the victims and their families are supported and consoled,” he said. The country’s Department of Foreign Affairs said that “we remember the one-million strong Filipino community in Canada and pray for their continued strength and resilience.”
