Nine people were killed and over 20 injured after a car plowed into a crowd at Vancouver’s Filipino festival. Police arrested a suspect and ruled out terrorism.
CNN
At least nine people were killed and over 20 injured when a car drove into a crowd at a Filipino heritage festival in Vancouver on Saturday night, police said.
Festivalgoers helped detain the suspect, identified as a 30-year-old Vancouver man. Police say he acted alone and the attack was not terrorism-related, though mental health issues are being investigated.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said he was “deeply heartbroken” but stressed there was no ongoing threat. “Last night, families lost a sister, a brother, a mother, a father, a son or a daughter,” he said.
Eyewitness Kris Pangilinan described the scene as “like a war zone… there were bodies all over the ground.”
The street festival, marking Lapu Lapu Day, had drawn large crowds with food trucks and cultural performances before tragedy struck around 8 p.m.
Organizers, Filipino BC, called it a “senseless tragedy,” while Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. vowed victims “will not be forgotten.”
The Vancouver Police Department’s Major Crime Section is investigating.