9 people killed when a vehicle plows into a Filipino street festival crowd in Vancouver

VANCOUVER British Columbia AP A man drove a bicycle into a crowd at a Filipino heritage festival in the Canadian city of Vancouver killing at least nine people and injuring an unknown number of others police disclosed Sunday The van entered the street at p m on Saturday and struck people attending the Lapu Lapu Day festival the Vancouver Police Department explained in a social media post Several other people were injured but the exact number of casualties wasn t this instant available Video of the aftermath shows the dead and injured along a narrow street in South Vancouver lined by food trucks The front of the driver s SUV is smashed in A -year-old Vancouver man was arrested at the scene and the department s Major Crime Section is overseeing the examination police stated At this time we are confident that this event was not an act of terrorism the police department posted early Sunday Interim Vancouver Police Chief Steve Rai notified a news conference that the man was arrested after initially being apprehended by bystanders Video circulating on social media shows a young man in a black hoodie with his back against a chain-link fence alongside a safeguard guard and surrounded by bystanders screaming and swearing at him I m sorry the man says holding his hand to his head Rai declined to comment on the video but mentioned the person in custody was a lone male who was known to police in certain circumstances Carayn Nulada mentioned that she pulled her granddaughter and grandson off the street and used her body to shield them from the SUV She disclosed that her daughter suffered a narrow escape The car hit her arm and she fell down but she got up looking for us because she is scared noted Nulada who described children screaming and pale-faced casualties lying on the ground or wedged under vehicles I saw people running and my daughter was shaking Nulada was in Vancouver General Hospital s crisis room early Sunday morning trying to find news about her brother who was run down in the attack and suffered multiple broken bones Doctors identified him by presenting the family with his wedding ring in a pill bottle and reported that he was stable but would be facing surgery James Cruzat a Vancouver business owner was at the event and heard a car rev its engine and then a loud noise like a loud bang that he initially thought might be a gunshot We saw people on the road crying others were like running shouting or even screaming asking for help So we tried to go there just to check what was really genuinely happening until we detected various bodies on the ground Others were lifeless others like you know injured Cruzat explained Nic Magtajas described an SUV roaring through the crowd at high speed I saw a bunch of people go over go high up from the impact of hitting the car noted Magtajas Vancouver Mayor Kenneth Sim revealed in a social media post that the city would provide more information when attainable I am shocked and deeply saddened by the horrific occurrence at in the current era s Lapu Lapu Day event Sim reported Our thoughts are with all those affected and with Vancouver s Filipino society during this incredibly arduous time Vancouver had more than residents of Filipino heritage in representing of the city s 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 th century The organizers of the Vancouver event reported that he represents the soul of native resistance a powerful force that helped shape the Filipino identity in the face of colonization Prime Minister Mark Carney and other political leaders on the final day of the ballot campaign posted messages expressing shock at the violence condolences for casualties and help for the society celebrating its heritage I offer my deepest condolences to the loved ones of those killed and injured to the Filipino Canadian district and to everyone in Vancouver We are all mourning with you Carney wrote Carney delayed his campaign events Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr issued a declaration expressing sympathy with the casualties and their families The Philippine Consulate General in Vancouver is working with Canadian agents to ensure that the event will be thoroughly investigated and that the casualties and their families are supported and consoled he stated The country s Department of Foreign Affairs commented that we remember the million strong Filipino locality in Canada and pray for their continued strength and resilience In a man used a van to kill pedestrians in Toronto Eight women and two men died Alek Minassian who was detected guilty informed police that he belonged to an online population of sexually frustrated men particular of whom have plotted attacks on people who have sex Source