A man leaves flowers and lights a candle at a memorial for the victims of a car ramming in the city at Kensington Community Centre in Vancouver on Sunday.
Vancouver teacher identified as one of 11 killed in Filipino street festival tragedy
The deadly incident, described by interim Vancouver police chief Steve Rai as 鈥渢he darkest day in Vancouver’s history,鈥 sent shockwaves around the world and left Canada鈥檚 growing Filipino community reeling.
A man leaves flowers and lights a candle at a memorial for the victims of a car ramming in the city at Kensington Community Centre in Vancouver on Sunday.
Kira Salim, a teacher and counsellor at Fraser River Middle School and New Westminster Secondary School, was among those killed on Saturday after a man drove an SUV through the Lapu-Lapu Day festival in Vancouver, officials with the New Westminster school district wrote in a letter.
“Kira was a valued member of our community whose wisdom and care for our middle and secondary school students had a powerful impact,鈥 board chair Maya Russell and superintendent Mark Davidson said in the letter released on Monday.
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鈥淭heir work, and the great spirit they brought to it, changed lives. The loss of our friend and colleague has left us all shocked and heartbroken.鈥
Eleven people, ranging from age five to 65, were left dead and more than two dozen were hurt in the attack 鈥 an incident the local police Chief Steve Rai described as “the darkest day in Vancouver’s history.”聽
A total of 32 patients were rushed to several hospitals across the Lower Mainland, with 17 still in care as of Monday morning, their injuries ranging from non-life-threatening to critical.
Saturday’s deadly event sent shock waves around the world and left Canada鈥檚 growing Filipino community reeling.
The festival was coming to an end shortly after 8 p.m. local time when the suspect 鈥渄rove into a large crowd鈥 on East 43rd Avenue near Fraser Street, according to police.
Bystanders and witnesses intervened to detain the driver until authorities arrived at the scene.
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Vancouver resident Kai-Ji Adam Lo, 30, has been charged with . Police have said additional charges are expected and that some of the victims have not yet been identified.
Lo, who is in custody, appeared in court over the weekend and is scheduled to return in late May. He had no criminal record but was known to police.
Rai, Vancouver’s interim police chief, said the suspect had a number of prior interactions with police that were related to his mental health. While authorities have yet to determine a motive for the attack, Rai said it did not appear to be an act of terror.
A Facebook account that appears to belong to Lo says he is from Kaohsiung, Taiwan, and attended the University of British Columbia’s business school.聽
His brother, Alexander, was killed in January of last year. Lo organized an online fundraiser to cover the funeral costs after Alexander was found dead inside a Vancouver residence in the early hours of Jan. 28, 2024.聽
Police charged Dwight William Kematch, then 39, with second-degree murder.
In a series of messages posted to the GoFundMe page, Lo shared that he and his family were devastated by his brother鈥檚 death. Later, in a September update, he wrote that his mother, who deeply troubled by her son’s death and stressed from climbing bills, had attempted suicide.
This is a developing story.
With files from Mark Ramzy, Ilyas Hussein, Abby O’Brien, and The Canadian Press.聽聽
Calvi Leon is a Toronto-based general assignment reporter for
the Star. Reach her via email: cleon@thestar.ca
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