Police say 9 people were killed when a car plowed into a Vancouver street festival crowd

VANCOUVER British Columbia AP At least nine people were killed when a man drove into a crowd at a Filipino heritage festival in the Canadian city of Vancouver and an unknown number were injured police announced Sunday The bus entered the street at p m on Saturday and struck people attending the Lapu Lapu Day festival the Vancouver Police Department explained in a social media post Several other people were injured but the exact number of casualties was not straightaway available A -year-old Vancouver man was arrested at the scene and the department s Major Crime Section is overseeing the scrutiny police reported At this time we are confident that this event was not an act of terrorism the police department posted early Sunday Interim Vancouver Police Chief Steve Rai described a news conference that man was arrested after initially being apprehended by bystanders Video circulating on social media shows a young man in a black hoodie with his back against a chain link fence alongside a prevention guard and surrounded by bystanders screaming and swearing at him I m sorry the man says holding his hand to his head Rai declined to comment on the video but explained the person in custody was a lone male who was known to police in certain circumstances The festival was being held in a South Vancouver neighborhood Video posted on social media evidenced casualties and debris strewn across a long stretch of road with at least seven people lying immobile on the ground A black SUV with a crumpled front section could be seen in still photos from the scene Carayn Nulada revealed she pulled her granddaughter and grandson off the street and used her body to shield them from the SUV She announced her daughter suffered a narrow escape The car hit her arm and she fell down but she got up looking for us because she is scared revealed Nulada who described children screaming and pale-faced casualties lying on the ground or wedged under vehicles I saw people running and my daughter was shaking Nulada was in Vancouver General Hospital s crisis room early Sunday morning trying to find news 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 mentioned he was stable but would be facing surgery James Cruzat a Vancouver business owner was at the event and heard a car rev its engine 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 So we tried to go there just to check what was really veritably happening until we exposed specific bodies on the ground Others were lifeless others like you know injured Cruzat commented Vancouver Mayor Kenneth Sim disclosed in a social media post that the city would provide more information when practicable I am shocked and deeply saddened by the horrific circumstance at currently s Lapu Lapu Day event Sim declared Our thoughts are with all those affected and with Vancouver s Filipino public during this incredibly tough time Vancouver had more than residents of Filipino heritage in representing of the city s total population according to Statistics Canada the agency that conducts the national census Lapu Lapu Day celebrates Datu Lapu-Lapu an Indigenous chieftain who stood up to Spanish explorers who came to the Philippines in the th century The organizers of the Vancouver event declared he represents the soul of native resistance a powerful force that helped shape the Filipino identity in the face of colonization Prime Minister Mark Carney and other Canadian political figures on the final day of the federal electoral contest campaign posted messages expressing shock at the violence condolences for casualties and help for the neighborhood celebrating its heritage I offer my deepest condolences to the loved ones of those killed and injured to the Filipino Canadian district and to everyone in Vancouver We are all mourning with you Carney wrote Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr issued a announcement expressing sympathy with the casualties and their families The Philippine Consulate General in Vancouver is working with Canadian personnel to ensure that the affair will be thoroughly investigated and that the casualties and their families are supported and consoled he announced In a man used a van to kill pedestrians in Toronto Eight women and two men ranging in age from to died Alek Minassian who was determined guilty described police he belonged to an online population of sexually frustrated men chosen of whom have plotted attacks on people who have sex