CNN
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A driver plowed a car into a crowd at a street festival celebrating Filipino heritage in Vancouver on Saturday night, killing and injuring a number of people, officials said.
Some of those attending the festival helped arrest the suspect at the scene. He is a 30-year-old man from Vancouver, according to a police statement.
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.”
Rai would not give the exact number of the victims saying it would be “unfair” to give more precise figures as families are still being informed.
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.
Videos from the event organizers on Instagram showed lively cultural dances and song performances throughout the day, with several food trucks and market booths lining both side of the street. Many families with young children were seen among the attendees.
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.”
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 is a developing story and will be updated.
