‘I said it’s the darkest day in Vancouver’s history and I stand by that,’ interim Vancouver Police Chief Steve Rai said.
At least 11 people have been killed and more than 20 others injured after a man drove a car into a crowd during a street festival in Vancouver, local police said on April 27.
The driver has been taken into custody.
The attack happened at 8:14 p.m. local time on April 26 at the intersection of Fraser Street and East 41st Avenue, where the Filipino community was holding its Lapu Lapu Day Block Party, Vancouver Police stated.
“We will provide more information as the investigation unfolds,” the police force stated.
Prime Minister Mark Carney, who changed the scheduling of his campaign events following news of the incident, said the police described it as a “car ramming attack.”
“An investigation is ongoing to determine how and why this horrific attack occurred. Authorities have confirmed one person is [in] custody and it is believed they acted alone,” Carney said.
Images from the scene show the police investigating a black SUV that has its hood crumpled and engine underneath exposed.
Video footage shared on social media shows bodies and debris on the ground along a long stretch of road at the festival, with paramedics and police at the scene.
Police said they arrested the suspect, a 30-year-old Vancouver man, at the scene and that its Major Crime Section is overseeing the investigation.
“At this time, we are confident that this incident was not an act of terrorism,” the police department posted on April 27.
The man was arrested after bystanders initially apprehended him, interim Vancouver Police Chief Steve Rai said at a press conference.
Social media videos show a man wearing a black hoodie with his back against a chain-link fence, flanked by a security guard and bystanders who were screaming and swearing at him.
“I’m sorry,” the man said while holding his hand to his head.
Rai did not comment on the video footage but described the person in custody as a “lone male” who was “known to police in certain circumstances.”
Rai told reporters during a later press conference that those injured in the attack were taken to nine different hospitals and that the number of dead “could rise in the coming days or weeks.” He said victims are both male and female and that “young people” are included among the dead.
“I said it’s the darkest day in Vancouver’s history and I stand by that,” he said.
Vancouver Police secure the scene where a car drove into a crowd at the Lapu Lapu Festival in Vancouver, Canada, on April 26, 2025. The Canadian Press/Rich Lam
One witness told CTV News he saw a black vehicle driving erratically in the area of the festival just before the crowd was struck.
The Vancouver Sun reported that thousands of people were in the area. Fraser Street was filled with food trucks and people at the time of the attack.
“I didn’t get to see the driver; all I heard was an engine rev,” Yoseb Vardeh, co-owner of food truck Bao Buns, said in an interview with Postmedia.
“I got outside my food truck. I looked down the road, and there’s just bodies everywhere. He went through the whole block; he went straight down the middle.”
Police said the mass casualty incident is not being investigated as an act of terrorism.
Condolences
Authorities do not believe there is any active threat to Canadian citizens, according to Carney.
“Last night, families lost a sister, a brother, a mother, father, son, or a daughter. Those families are living every family’s nightmare,” he said. “And to them and to the many others who were injured, to the Filipino Canadian community, and to everyone in Vancouver, I would like to offer my deepest condolences.”
In a post on social media, Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim said he was shocked and “deeply saddened” by the incident.
“We will work to provide more information as soon as we can,” he said.
“Our thoughts are with all those affected and with Vancouver’s Filipino community during this incredibly difficult time.”
British Columbia Premier David Eby said he was shocked and heartbroken by the attack.
“We are in contact with the City of Vancouver and will provide any support needed,” Eby said. “My thoughts are with the victims and their loved ones.”
Vancouver Police secure the scene where a car drove into a crowd at the Lapu Lapu Festival in Vancouver, Canada, on April 26, 2025. The Canadian Press/Rich Lam
Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre also offered his condolences, saying he knows many Canadians are “shocked, heartbroken, and saddened by this senseless act of violence.”
Speaking in Mississauga, Ontario, on April 27, Poilievre said the loved ones of those who lost their lives in this attack will have a “deep hole in their hearts today, and we will try and fill that with love.”
“All Canadians are united in solidarity with the Filipino community,” the Tory leader said. “All Canadians are united with you in mourning the loss of these treasured lives.”
New Democratic Party leader Jagmeet Singh, who attended the event but left minutes before the vehicle rammed into the crowd, expressed sorrow and solidarity with the Filipino community as he spoke to reporters on the night of April 26.
“I don’t have the words to describe the sorrow that I’m feeling right now, but I want the Filipino community to know we’re standing with you. You do not grieve alone,” he said in Burnaby, British Columbia.
Singh said he had not been briefed about the details of the mass casualty attack.
“We don’t know any details about it, whether it turns out whatever the motive is, either way, the Filipino community was targeted, because this was a clearly Filipino event,” he said.
Several world leaders or officials also extended condolences, including French President Emmanuel Macron, UK Foreign Minister David Lammy, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, and Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský.
Reuters contributed to this report.
