The city's interim police chief said a driver cultivated a group of gatherers attending the Philippine Street Music Festival to kill at least 11 people.
Interim chief Steve Rai said Sunday that a 30-year-old man from Vancouver was detained and police had previously had “substantial contact” with him on mental health issues. He refused to attribute any motives to the festival attacks.
Vancouver police said in an email earlier Sunday that investigators have ruled out terrorism from motivation, but they did not provide more details. Prime Minister Mark Carney described the incident as a “crash attack”, saying federal national security officials “don't see any positive threat to Canadians.”
Photos published by news organizations show what appeared to be a black SUV, which had severe damage to the front of the vehicle and its airbag deployment.
“About 8:14 pm on April 26, a man drove into a large crowd of people participating in the Lapu Lapu Day Festival on East 43 and Fraser Streets,” Vancouver police said in a social media article. The annual event celebrates the Philippines' national hero Datu Lapu Lapu.
“As of now, we can confirm that nine people died after driving past the crowd last night's Lapu Lapu Festival,” police said in another social media post earlier Sunday. “Our ideas are with everyone affected by this tragic incident.”
The incident happened less than 48 hours after the start of Canadian federal elections. When the reporter asked if the incident was related to the election, Mr Rai said: “I know nothing about it.”
The initial assessment by police that the attack was an isolated incident, with police to allow 10km of runners, attracted more than 45,000 contestants to continue on Sunday last year.
The event took place at Apl.de.ap, a Filipino American rapper and founding member of Black Eyed Pea, who completed a concert performance as a high school at the festival.
Witness Alan Kane told CBC Radio that just before the attack, the crowds of people on the street were “wall-to-wall” and lined up for food trucks. He said it seems that only plastic barriers have blocked the street.
Several witnesses told Canadian news media that the obstacles had been withdrawn before the incident. Some cars and trucks were allowed into crowded streets to allow suppliers to pack, said Kris Pangilinan, a man who sold clothes at a stall. He said the Audi SUV initially moved into the crowd cautiously and then quickly accelerated to knock down the victim.
“It seems we are actually in the war zone,” Mr Pangilinan told the CBC.
Other witnesses said the driver tried to escape and was subdued by bystanders.
It was the first mass killing in Canada involving a car since 2021, when a far-right extremist drove a pickup truck to five members of a Muslim family in London, Ontario, killing four of them. The judge ruled that the person was motivated by a white supremacist ideology and believed that killing was an act of terrorism.
In 2018, a Toronto man used a rented truck to knock down and kill 11 pedestrians and injured 15 more people. Most of the victims are women.
In recent years, Canadian police forces have regularly blocked roads to large crowds of people who are snowy or gravel-filled dump trucks, a measure that appears not to be taken in Vancouver.
“Last night, the family lost an older sister, a brother, a mother, a father, a son or a daughter,” Mr. Carney said in Hamilton, Ontario. “These families are living in every family's nightmare.”
Speaking to the Canadians in the Philippines, he added: “I mourn with all Canadians. I know Canadians are united with you.”
Mr Carney canceled the biggest event of the campaign scheduled for Sunday, and it is unclear whether he will follow plans to run for the evening in Vancouver.
Jagmeet Singh, the leader of the New Democratic Party and British Columbia Councillor, canceled all his last campaign except one. Mr. Singh left the festival shortly before the attack.
Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim said he was “shocked and saddened by this horrible incident.”
According to the 2021 census, Vancouver prides itself on being a diverse multicultural city, with more than half of its residents identifying themselves as “visible minorities.”
Lapu Lapu Day is an annual celebration held in the Philippines, marking the memory of Datu Lapu Lapu who stood up in Spanish colonization. In Vancouver, the festival was established as an annual event in 2023.
Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. of the Philippines President.
