Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
5-Year-Old Girl and Parents Among Those Dead in Vehicle Ramming in Vancouver
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 23 minutes ago on
April 28, 2025

Visitors pay their respects at a memorial after a vehicle drove into a crowd during a Filipino heritage festival in Vancouver, British Columbia, Sunday, April 27, 2025. (AP/Lindsey Wasson)

Share

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — A 5-year-old girl and her parents were among the 11 killed in Vancouver when a car plowed through a crowded street during a Filipino heritage festival over the weekend. The family left behind a 16-year-old son who stayed home to finish his homework.

The son learned in the hours after the attack that his younger sister, Katie Le, father Richard Le and stepmother Linh Hoang were all killed, said Richard Le’s brother, Toan Le.

Katie Le was nearing graduation from kindergarten and was described as a vibrant and joyful child in a GoFundMe page posted by Toan Le. The teenage boy is in a state of shock, Le said, grappling with the sudden loss.

Another victim identified Monday was Kira Salim, a teacher and counselor who worked at two schools in the New Westminster School District southeast of Vancouver, the district said in a statement.

Salim “was a valued member of our community whose wisdom and care for our middle and secondary school students had a powerful impact,” the district’s superintendent and board chair wrote.

The black Audi SUV sped down a closed, food-truck-lined street Saturday evening and struck people attending the Lapu Lapu Day festival, which celebrates Datu Lapu-Lapu, an Indigenous chieftain who stood up to Spanish explorers who came to the Philippines in the 16th century.

32 Hurt and 17 Hospitalized

Thirty-two people were hurt, and 17 were still hospitalized late Sunday, including some in critical and serious condition, the British Columbia Health Ministry said. Those killed ranged in age from 5 to 65, officials said.

A 30-year-old man was charged with multiple counts of murder in the deaths, and mourners including the Canadian prime minister remembered the dead at vigils across the city.

Kai-Ji Adam Lo was charged with eight counts of second-degree murder in a video appearance before a judge Sunday, said Damienne Darby, spokeswoman for British Columbia prosecutors. Lo has not yet entered a plea.

A woman who answered the phone Monday at the home of Lo’s mother, Lisa Lo, said that the mother was too distraught to speak to a reporter.

Investigators ruled out terrorism as a motive and said more charges were possible. They said Lo had a history of mental health issues.

The Associated Press could not immediately reach an attorney representing him. Online records showed that Vancouver Provincial Court issued a publication ban barring the release of details about the legal case against Ko. Such bans are common in Canada to protect the rights of the accused to a fair trial as well as the privacy of crime victims.

While attending a vigil, Vancouver Mayor Kenneth Sim said the Filipino community and the city were “heartbroken, were sad, were scared and there’s a bit of anger there, too.”

Interim Police Chief Steve Rai said there was no indication of a motive but that the suspect has “a significant history of interactions with police and health care professionals related to mental health.”

Video of the aftermath showed the dead and injured along a narrow street in South Vancouver. The front of the SUV was smashed in.

Kris Pangilinan, who brought his pop-up clothing and lifestyle booth to the festival, saw the vehicle roll slowly past a barricade before the driver accelerated in an area packed with people after a concert. He said hearing the sounds of people screaming and bodies hitting the vehicle will never leave his mind.

“He slammed on the gas, barreled through the crowd,” Pangilinan said. “It looked like a bowling ball hitting bowling pins and all the pins are flying into the air.”

Investigators were collecting evidence at the scene Monday and had executed a search warrant at a Vancouver property, police spokesperson Sgt. Steve Addison said. Investigators were also going through bystander video from the scene.

Officials will review the situation, and it may change how they approach such events, Addison said.

“This was intended to be a safe, fun, family-friendly community block party for people to celebrate their community and culture,” Addison said. “The actions of one person stole that away from them.”

Suspect Detained by Bystanders

Rai said the suspect was arrested after initially being apprehended by bystanders.

Video circulating on social media showed a young man in a black hoodie with his back against a chain-link fence, alongside a security guard and surrounded by bystanders screaming and swearing at him.

“I’m sorry,” the man said, holding his hand to his head. Rai declined to comment on the video.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney visited Sunday, a day before a national election. He canceled his first campaign event and two major rallies on the final day of the campaign before the country votes on Monday.

“Last night families lost a sister, a brother, a mother, father, son or a daughter. Those families are living every family’s nightmare,” Carney said. He joined British Columbia Premier David Eby and community leaders Sunday evening in Vancouver.

Carney posted a photo of himself on X lighting a candle at a makeshift memorial near the scene of the attack.

The assault was reminiscent of an attack in 2018, when a man used a van to kill 10 pedestrians in Toronto.

Witnesses Describe Leaping out of the Way

Carayn Nulada said that she pulled her granddaughter and grandson off the street and used her body to shield them from the SUV. She said her daughter made a narrow escape.

“The car hit her arm, and she fell down, but she got up, looking for us, because she is scared,” said Nulada, who described children screaming and victims lying on the ground or wedged under vehicles.

Nulada was at Vancouver General Hospital on Sunday morning, trying to learn 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 said that he was stable but would need surgery.

James Cruzat, a Vancouver business owner, was at the celebration. He heard a car engine rev 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,” Cruzat said.

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Blast Kills at Least 26 People in Nigeria’s Northeast, Residents Say

DON'T MISS

5-Year-Old Girl and Parents Among Those Dead in Vehicle Ramming in Vancouver

DON'T MISS

Feds Again Bump Up Water Allocation for Many Fresno County Farmers

DON'T MISS

Levi Strauss Shareholders Vote Against Proposal to End Diversity Programs

DON'T MISS

US and Mexico Have Reached Agreement on New World Screwworm, Ag Secretary Rollins Says

DON'T MISS

Death Toll in Iran’s Bandar Abbas Port Blast Rises to 70

DON'T MISS

Selma Mayor Responds to Criminal Charge

DON'T MISS

More Than 100 Immigrants Detained at an Illegal After-Hours Nightclub in Colorado

DON'T MISS

Visalia Police Captain Charged With Embezzlement, Theft

DON'T MISS

Autopsy Confirms Gene Hackman Died From Heart Disease

UP NEXT

5-Year-Old Girl and Parents Among Those Dead in Vehicle Ramming in Vancouver

UP NEXT

Feds Again Bump Up Water Allocation for Many Fresno County Farmers

UP NEXT

Levi Strauss Shareholders Vote Against Proposal to End Diversity Programs

UP NEXT

US and Mexico Have Reached Agreement on New World Screwworm, Ag Secretary Rollins Says

UP NEXT

Death Toll in Iran’s Bandar Abbas Port Blast Rises to 70

UP NEXT

Selma Mayor Responds to Criminal Charge

UP NEXT

More Than 100 Immigrants Detained at an Illegal After-Hours Nightclub in Colorado

UP NEXT

Visalia Police Captain Charged With Embezzlement, Theft

UP NEXT

Iran Proposes Meeting With Europeans Before Next Talks With US, Diplomats Say

UP NEXT

Trump to Sign Order Requiring List of Sanctuary Cities, States, Official Says

Levi Strauss Shareholders Vote Against Proposal to End Diversity Programs

34 minutes ago

US and Mexico Have Reached Agreement on New World Screwworm, Ag Secretary Rollins Says

1 hour ago

Death Toll in Iran’s Bandar Abbas Port Blast Rises to 70

2 hours ago

Selma Mayor Responds to Criminal Charge

2 hours ago

More Than 100 Immigrants Detained at an Illegal After-Hours Nightclub in Colorado

3 hours ago

Visalia Police Captain Charged With Embezzlement, Theft

4 hours ago

Autopsy Confirms Gene Hackman Died From Heart Disease

4 hours ago

Iran Proposes Meeting With Europeans Before Next Talks With US, Diplomats Say

5 hours ago

Trump to Sign Order Requiring List of Sanctuary Cities, States, Official Says

5 hours ago

Saudi Arabia and Qatar to Pay Off Syria’s Debt to the World Bank

5 hours ago

Blast Kills at Least 26 People in Nigeria’s Northeast, Residents Say

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (Reuters) – At least 26 people were killed on Monday when two vehicles detonated an improvised explosive device in ...

2 minutes ago

At least 26 people were killed and three injured on Monday when two vehicles struck an improvised explosive device in Nigeria’s insurgency-hit Borno state, an attack residents blamed on Boko Haram. (Shutterstock)
2 minutes ago

Blast Kills at Least 26 People in Nigeria’s Northeast, Residents Say

Visitors pay their respects at a memorial after a vehicle drove into a crowd during a Filipino heritage festival in Vancouver, British Columbia, Sunday, April 27, 2025. (AP/Lindsey Wasson)
23 minutes ago

5-Year-Old Girl and Parents Among Those Dead in Vehicle Ramming in Vancouver

26 minutes ago

Feds Again Bump Up Water Allocation for Many Fresno County Farmers

The Levi Strauss & Co. label is seen on clothes in a store at the Woodbury Common Premium Outlets in Central Valley, New York, U.S., February 15, 2022. (REUTERS/Andrew Kelly)
34 minutes ago

Levi Strauss Shareholders Vote Against Proposal to End Diversity Programs

Brooke Rollins testifies before a Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., January 23, 2025. (REUTERS/Kaylee Greenlee Beal/File Photo)
1 hour ago

US and Mexico Have Reached Agreement on New World Screwworm, Ag Secretary Rollins Says

Smoke rises following an explosion at the Shahid Rajaee port in Bandar Abbas, Iran, April 27, 2025. Iranian Red Crescent/WANA (West Asia News Agency/Handout via REUTERS)
2 hours ago

Death Toll in Iran’s Bandar Abbas Port Blast Rises to 70

2 hours ago

Selma Mayor Responds to Criminal Charge

In this image taken from video released by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, officers stop a patron from a nightclub where a raid occurred Sunday, April 27, 2025, in Colorado Springs, Colo. (U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration via AP)
3 hours ago

More Than 100 Immigrants Detained at an Illegal After-Hours Nightclub in Colorado

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend