Police in Vancouver say the suspect in Saturday’s devastating car-ramming attack at a Filipino festival that killed 11 people had “contact” with another police department in the Lower Mainland the day before the tragedy.
In an update on Monday afternoon, the Vancouver Police Department reiterated that the accused, 30-year-old Kai-Ji Adam Lo, has had multiple previous interactions with police and medical professionals related to mental health.
“I can confirm that Kai-Ji Lo did have contact with the police in a neighbouring jurisdiction on April 25, the day before the vehicle attack. That contact was not criminal in nature, and it did not rise to the level where mental health intervention was required,” Sgt. Steve Addison stated on Monday.
“Beyond that, I’m not prepared to disclose additional information at this time,” he said. Addison did not share additional details on the incident, such as which city it happened in, whether 911 was called, or whether it was at a business or private home.
Monday’s update comes after Lo was charged with eight counts of second-degree murder on Sunday afternoon.
Addison shared on Monday that the VPD anticipates more charges will be laid in the coming days or weeks.
“For those of you who are not from Vancouver, not from British Columbia, not from Canada — the way our system works here, is the police do not lay criminal charges. We collect evidence. We present reports to Crown Counsel, which is independent of the police. Crown Counsel then does an independent assessment of the evidence and formally lays charges. We do anticipate that additional charges will be laid as this investigation continues,” Addison said.
9 women, 2 men killed in the Lapu Lapu Day attack
1130 NewsRadio has learned that 32 people who were injured in the attack were transported to six different hospitals around the Lower Mainland.
Initially, the attack’s reported death toll was eight. That number was raised to 11 when three people died in hospital or were declared dead on arrival.
Addison said nine of the deceased victims are women and two are men, from all around Metro Vancouver. The five-year-old killed was a girl, Addison shared, with the 65-year-old a man.
“We will, in time, release the names of all the homicide victims. We are going to take a victim-centred, trauma-informed approach as we proceed through this investigation,” he explained.
“There are a number of victims, survivors who are still in hospital. Seven people remain in critical condition. Three people are in serious condition. There are other victims who were injured, who received medical attention, and may have been discharged from hospital,” Addison said.
“There are people who potentially were injured who we don’t know about yet, or people who sought medical attention on their own. So there are many, many more victims out there, and if there are people who are victims who we don’t know about yet, we encourage them to come forward and speak to us.”
Addison said investigators are continuing to comb through the crime scene, with officers expecting that police tape will come down by Tuesday.
“These are really incredibly hard days for all of us in this community. What has happened to us here in Vancouver, we’ve seen it happen in other cities. We’ve seen it happen in other countries. We’ve seen it happen throughout the world. It has never happened to us here, and it has absolutely shaken our entire community to the core,” he said.
“In the coming days, as we learn more about the victims in this horrific attack, the trauma is going to increase. It’s going to get harder before it gets easier,” Addison said.
“In addition to the investigation, the criminal investigation that we’re conducting, we, the Vancouver Police Department, we’re here to provide comfort and reassurance and to console and to support the community. We’re impacted by this. The entire community is impacted by this, and we will do what it takes, not just to investigate this horrific crime, but to provide comfort and reassurance, and to console the community, and to help the community in this absolutely unprecedented, unprecedented time.
“This has changed all of us. This has changed all of us. This will change the way we approach events and community events in the future,” he said.
CityNews will cover the VPD media availability live. You can watch CityNews 24/7 live or listen live to 1130 NewsRadio Vancouver to keep up to date with this story. You can also subscribe to breaking news alerts sent directly to your inbox.
