The driver who fatally plowed down at least 11 festival goers has been identified as a 30-year-old man who suffered a severe mental breakdown after his brother was murdered last year and his mother then tried to commit suicide.
The suspect, Kai-Ji Adam Lo, is now facing eight counts of second-degree murder for the attack at Vancouver’s Lapu Lapu Festival at around 8pm on Saturday night, with police saying more charges are expected.
In the meantime, Lo will remain in custody.
Authorities have previously said that the suspect was ‘known to police in certain circumstances’ and suffered from mental health issues as they ruled out terrorism as a possible motive for the deadly attack.
On the day of the attack, Lo was believed to have been suffering from delusions and paranoia, the Vancouver Sun reports.
His mental health had been deteriorating since his brother Alexander’s murder last year, and has since had dozens of interactions with police officers.
Lo’s attack on Saturday night has now left 11 people dead, ranging in age from just five years old to 65, Vancouver police announced Sunday night, noting that not all of the victims have been identified.
But he has no prior criminal record, and after he slammed his Audi SUV into the crowd Lo reportedly told onlookers ‘I’m sorry’ as families including young children and neighbors from across Vancouver rushed to provide first aid for those in need.
Alexander Lo, 31, was found murdered inside a home at around 1am on January 28, 2024
Alexander is pictured with his mother, who tried to take her own life following his murder
It now seems that Lo suffered his own losses that may have caused him to have a mental breakdown.
His father had died shortly after the family moved into their Vancouver home, according to the Globe and Mail.
Lo’s brother, Alexander, 31, was then found murdered inside a home at around 1am on January 28, 2024, the Vancouver Sun reports.
Dwight William Kematch, 39, was arrested at the house and was later charged with second degree murder.
Following the unexpected death, Kai-Ji took to GoFundMe to ask for donations for his brother’s funeral.
‘It pains me deeply to put these words down, but my brother has been taken from us in a senseless act of violence, something we never saw coming,’ he wrote at the time.
‘Our reality has abruptly shifted. Despite our disagreements, the harsh truth that he’s no longer with us hits me with an overwhelming force.’
‘I’m burdened with remorse for not spending more time with him,’ Kai-Ji continued. ‘I implore you to keep his soul in your thoughts and prayers.’
The fundraiser netted over $9,000 for Alexander’s funeral.
The attack on Saturday night killed at least 11 people in downtown Vancouver
The impact of the crash also left the suspect’s SUV smashed in
But just months later, in August, Kai-Ji was back asking for donations – this time after his mother attempted suicide and ended up in the hospital for a month.
‘The unimaginable grief brought upon my mother is something that is worse than my own sadness,’ Kai-Ji wrote.
‘For she brought him into this world, only for him to leave abruptly, it is a sadness I cannot begin to express.’
‘She lost a son already and is on the verge of losing her home. This has driven her to attempt to take her own life,’ he shared.
In the aftermath, Lo is said to have had several run-ins with police and health care professionals.
Authorities even showed up to the Lo’s house within the last two weeks to ask for security footage, neighbors told the Globe and Mail.
They described how they could often hear Lo screaming inside.
‘He always was yelling with his mom. I don’t know why,’ one of the neighbors said.
‘He is really nervous,’ the neighbor said of Lo. ‘Very- always scared of something happening that might hurt him.’
In fact, just hours before Saturday’s attack, a family member had even contacted a psych ward, the Sun reports.
The victims ranged in age from just five years old to 65, Vancouver police announced Sunday night, noting that not all of the victims have been identified
Footage from the festival scene later showed dead bodies and injured partygoers lying in a narrow street lined by food trucks.
Lo’s SUV also appeared to be smashed in.
Witnesses have described how the driver sideswiped another vehicle before he revved the SUV’s engine and plowed into the crowd.
Kris Pangilinan, who brought his pop-up clothing and lifestyle booth to the festival, for example, said he saw the vehicle enter past the barricade slowly before the driver slammed on the gas in an area that was packed with people following a concert.
‘He sideswiped someone on his right side and I was like, `Oh, yo yo.´ And then he slammed on the gas,’ Pangilinan said. ‘And the sound of the acceleration, it sounds like an F1 car about to start a race.
‘He slammed on the gas, barreled through the crowd. And all I can remember is seeing bodies flying up in the air higher than the food trucks themselves and landing on the ground and people yelling and screaming.
‘It looked like a bowling ball hitting bowling pins and all the pins are flying into the air.’
Pangilinan added how the sounds of the bodies hitting the vehicle will never leave his mind.
A member of the Vancouver Police forensics team collects evidence while investigating the scene where a vehicle drove into a crowd
Evidence markers line 43rd Avenue in Vancouver, where a vehicle drove into crowd at a street festival on the night before
James Cruzat, a Vancouver business owner, also said he heard the driver rev his engine – followed by 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,’ he recounted.
‘So we tried to go there just to check what was really actually happening until we found some bodies on the ground. Others were lifeless, others like, you know, injured.’
As details about Lo’s life were released Sunday night, Canadian officials called for more mental health resources.
‘We have a huge need in the province for interventionist mental health services,’ British Columbia Premier David Eby said.
He also noted that when it comes to the Lapu Lapu festival killings ‘it’s important for investigators, or others to go into this with an open mind, to provide answers to the public, to everybody that they find so that we can ensure that we have the systems in place to prevent this kind of thing from happening.
‘In some cases that may be a change in how the city does security for events. It maybe a change in health care response.’
Eby went on to note, ‘We don’t know the story of why or what led up to this man taking the horrific action that he did.
‘There are so many questions that I have,’ he said. ‘There are so many questions that British Columbians have about how that could take place, how we could get to that moment, and as we learn those answers, we’ll take the action that’s necessary to ensure that it can’t happen again,’ Eby vowed.
