B.C. Premier David Eby said Tuesday that the suspect in the Lapu Lapu Day festival vehicle attack in Vancouver Saturday night that left 11 people dead was under the supervision of a health-care team and compliant with treatment.
Eby said the information on the 30-year-old suspect came from Vancouver Coastal Health.
“For me, that leads to a whole array of additional questions [and] I’m sure it’s the same for all British Columbians,” the premier told reporters from the grounds of the B.C. Legislature.
“At this stage, we’ve encouraged Coastal Health to release all the information that they can under our provincial privacy laws, to share all the information that they have with police to advance the investigation criminally.”
Kai-Ji Adam Lo has been charged with eight counts of second-degree murder in connection with the deadly attack. Police have said further charges are anticipated as the investigation continues.
Lo is a Vancouver resident, whose brother Alexander Lo was murdered in January 2024. Police executed a search warrant Sunday at Lo’s residence in east Vancouver. Police said the black Audi SUV used in the attack was owned by a family member of the suspect.
“And I just want to assure British Columbians, that if the criminal process is not able to surface these issues and answer these questions that we have, that we will call a full public inquiry to ensure that those answers are delivered,” Eby said.
Commission for public events
The premier said he would have immediately ordered a public inquiry, but did not want to interfere with the criminal investigation and trial.
He said the number one priority is ensuring justice for the Filipino community and that the suspect “is held and tried and convicted for these murders.”
In the meantime, the premier said, an independent commission will be created to establish a set of guidelines based on best practices for communities wanting to host public events this summer.
“My hope is that the commission will have full answers for organizers, for cities big and small across the province by June, so that organizers can go ahead and plan and be prepared and do what they can to minimize risks to the public and allow us to gather and celebrate,” the premier said.
Police have said the suspect in Saturday’s crime had a significant history of interactions with police and health-care professionals related to his mental health.
The suspect had an interaction with police in another jurisdiction the day before the attack, but the VPD has said it wasn’t criminal in nature. The department declined to provide further details at a briefing Monday.
Police said the suspect drove his vehicle into a crowd around 8 p.m. Saturday night along a stretch of West 43rd Avenue, near St. George Street. The street was lined with food trucks and vendors on both sides of the neighbourhood street, where festival-goers were present.
Citizens held the suspect at the scene until police arrived.
22-month boy in serious condition
Sgt. Steve Addison, a VPD media relations officer, said at a Tuesday afternoon news conference that seven people remain in hospital in critical condition, and three in serious condition. A 22-month-old baby boy is among the injured in serious condition.
Addison said police have identified 200 witnesses and are canvassing a 25-block area in and around the crime scene for video evidence. Police have received 51 videos to a portal set up on the department's website. Investigators received 43 tips via the 604-717-2500 homicide tip line.
"Anybody who was in the area who has video or still photos from the crime scene, from the incident, we'd like them to contact us and to submit it," Addison said. "That's a critical part of our investigation."
The Douglas Park community centre set up to offer assistance and support to community members will close at 8 p.m. Tuesday night. Police will place a trailer at East 41st Avenue and Fraser Street to offer the same service. It will remain open until 8 p.m. daily until the end of the week.
"This is going to be a place for people to come if they would like to obtain information, seek emotional support or access resources," said Addison, noting it will be staffed by VPD personnel victim services support workers. "In terms of the investigation, it's ongoing, and it will be ongoing for some time."
Addison said he expected the strip of East 43rd Avenue, between St. George Street and Fraser Street, to remain under police tape "at least until tomorrow."
2,000 involuntary care beds
Reporters asked Eby whether the tragedy has government considering expediting secure care spaces in the province and implementing changes in legislation around involuntary care for people with mental health issues.
“I think it's premature to draw conclusions about the particular circumstances of the murderer of children and seniors of the Lapu Lapu Day event — his state of mind, his interactions with the system and so on,” he said.
“We all want answers about that, but I'll just stress again that what should come first is the criminal investigation.”
Eby said the province currently has 2,000 involuntary care beds for people living with a mental illness. The Mental Health Act allows police to apprehend and involuntarily detain people who may be a danger to themselves or others, or both.
“That Act is under court challenge currently, and we're working hard to defend it because we know we need those tools in order to be able to ensure that people who are struggling with mental health [get care], and the broader community is safe,” he said.
'Watershed moment'
The premier’s position to not draw conclusions about the suspect’s motive was highlighted by Jonny Morris, CEO of the B.C. division of the Canadian Mental Health Association, in an interview with Glacier Media.
Eby had made similar comments at a Sunday news conference near the scene of the tragedy, which is what Morris was reacting to in an interview Monday. Morris said he took “some solace” from the premier’s approach, knowing the stigma attached to people living with a mental illness.
“There's a whole bunch of harm that happens when broad statements go out there around people with mental illness being violent,” he said, noting that evidence shows the vast majority of people living with a mental illness are not prone to violence.
At the same time, Morris said a person who commits violence should be prosecuted.
“If someone with a mental illness has committed a serious crime, then of course the justice system needs to hold that person accountable absolutely,” he said.
Morris described the fallout from the tragedy as a “watershed moment to take a hard, close look at how we can strengthen and improve systems of care — particularly voluntary systems of care — to prevent tragedies like this happening as best we can, knowing that not all tragedies like this are preventable ultimately.”
Nottingham attacks
During the interview, Morris referenced the killings of Barnaby Webber, Grace O’Malley-Kumar, both 19, and Ian Coates, 65, in Nottingham, U.K. in June 2023. Three other survivors were seriously injured.
BBC News reported that Webber and O'Malley-Kumar, both Nottingham University students, were fatally stabbed in Ilkeston Road, while Coates was found dead with knife injuries in Magdala Road.
Valdo Calocane, who was convicted in the crimes, then used Coates' van to drive into three pedestrians — Wayne Birkett, Marcin Gawronski and Sharon Miller — in the city centre.
Calocane was sentenced to indefinite detention at a high-security hospital.
A retired senior circuit judge was appointed April 22 to lead a public inquiry into the deaths.
The inquiry will have the power to examine all the agencies involved, including the Nottinghamshire Police and the Crown Prosecution Service; compel witnesses; and establish the facts, according to a news release from the U.K. government.
Morris stopped short of calling for a public inquiry into the Lapu Lapu Day murders.
“I don't know if 72 two hours after the event is the right time to be calling for that kind of thing,” said Morris, but shared “it's something I've been thinking about every time news breaks on a situation like this.”
Without an inquiry, Morris said his concern is that “we jolt towards ‘Let's open more involuntary care beds, let's do more detention.’”
Added Morris: “I would say an abrupt jolt in that direction might satisfy some interests, but might miss the broader watershed moment of taking a close look at whether we are doing everything that we can in our collective systems, including the ones I operate within, to improve and prevent things from happening like this.”
Note: This story has been updated since first posted to include an update from police.
