A driver plowed a car into a crowd at a street festival celebrating Filipino heritage in Vancouver on Saturday night, killing at least nine people and injuring others.
Some of those attending the festival helped arrest the suspect at the scene, who police identified as a 30-year-old man.
“As of now, we can confirm nine people have died after a man drove through a crowd at last night’s Lapu Lapu Festival. Our thoughts are with all those affected by this tragic incident,” Vancouver Police said.
The event on Saturday was intended as a celebration of culture and diversity, marking Lapu Lapu Day, an annual festival organized by British Columbia’s Filipino community and commemorating an Indigenous leader who fought against Spanish colonization.
Food trucks lined the street as performers broke out in traditional Filipino dance in the spring sunshine. Yet the family-friendly event ended in horror: one witness described it as like a war zone.
No motive has been given, although police have said they are “confident” it was not an act of terrorism. Canadian officials are investigating whether mental health issues may have factored into the incident, a law enforcement source briefed on the investigation told CNN.
“At approximately 8:14 p.m. on April 26, a man drove into a large crowd of people attending the Lapu Lapu Day Festival near East 43rd Avenue and Fraser Street. A 30-year-old suspect, a Vancouver man, was arrested at the scene,” a police statement said.
The suspect was known to police “in certain circumstances,” Vancouver Police interim chief Steve Rai told reporters in a press briefing later Sunday.
He declined to give further details, including whether he had a criminal record.
However, Rai said that suspect was thought to have operated alone, confirming there was “one suspect, one vehicle.”
The investigation, led the Vancouver Police Department’s Major Crime Section, is ongoing and police have asked members of the public to contact them with any information about the incident.
Eyewitnesses who attended the street festival described scenes of chaos.
“It’s something you don’t expect to see in your lifetime,” Kris Pangilinan, a Toronto-based journalist, told Canadian public broadcaster CBC. “[The driver] just slammed the pedal down and rammed into hundreds of people. It was like seeing a bowling ball hit — all the bowling pins and all the pins flying up in the air.”
He continued, “It was like a war zone… There were bodies all over the ground.”
Footage taken in the aftermath of the incident and geolocated by CNN showed a tree-lined street with food stalls on either side strewn with debris. Multiple people could be seen on the ground while emergency responders worked to provide them with medical aid.
Sirens could be heard in the distance as authorities asked people to keep the area clear.
A black SUV with a smashed front end sat in the middle of the road with the driver side door open as a police officer inspected the vehicle.
Reuters photos from the aftermath of the incident showed paramedics and ambulances at the scene, with police cordons visible.
The organizers of the street festival, a community group called Filipino BC, wrote in a statement on Instagram following the fatal incident: “We are still finding the words to express the deep heartbreak brought on by this senseless tragedy. We are devastated for the families and victims.”
The incident happened just before before Monday’s federal election.
Jagmeet Singh, leader of Canada’s New Democratic Party, attended the festival but left moments before the incident. “I was just there, and I just imagine the faces of the kids that I saw smiling and dancing,” he told CTV News. “This is so horrific, I don’t even know what to say.”
Prime Minister Mark Carney mourned the dead and wounded, calling the ramming “horrific” in a statement on X.
“I offer my deepest condolences to the loved ones of those killed and injured, to the Filipino Canadian community, and to everyone in Vancouver. We are all mourning with you,” he wrote.
CNN”s Josh Campbell contributed reporting. This story has been updated.
