Kai-Ji Adam Lo Vancouver man charged with 8 counts of second degree murder in Lapu Lapu festival attack that killed 11 and injured dozens others. Police maintain episode was result of mental health issues and not domestic related.
Kai-Ji Adam Lo, a 30 year old Vancouver man suspected of plowing his Audi SUV vehicle into revelers at the local Lapu Lapu festival, Saturday night killing 11 people and injuring dozens others has had 8 second degree murder charges filed against him. It remained unclear if the man would also face an additional three murder charges.
The charges against the 30 year old driver follow Adam Lo allegedly driving into a crowded Filipino festival, Saturday night, circa 8pm, as festivities were wrapping up and officials had begun to open up roads for food pantry trucks.
The fatalities ranged in age from 5 to 65 including local Vancouver woman, Rizza Azzir who was identified as the first death by her family on social media.
Kai-Ji Adam Lo family tried to commit him to psych ward before attack
Conviction would entail life sentence in prison
According to Canada’s CBC, Kai-Ji Adam Lo appeared briefly in court from a jail cell wearing grey sweats. The suspect did not request bail and was remanded to stay in custody.
Notes the outlet: Lo faces eight counts under Section 235 of the Criminal Code of Canada, which covers both first- and second-degree murder. First-degree murder is planned and deliberate, with a few other scenarios where the charge might apply. Second-degree is an intentional killing that wasn’t planned in advance.
If convicted, both first- and second-degree murder come with a sentence of life imprisonment.
The attack took place at approximately 20:14 local time on Saturday at an event marking Lapu Lapu Day, which is celebrated every year on 27 April amongst the Filipino community.
Festival-goers said a single vehicle, a black Audi SUV was involved in the attack, which took place on East 43rd Avenue and Fraser in the south of Vancouver.
The driver of the vehicle who drove into the crowd at Lapu Lapu Festival in Vancouver. Asian male and possibly mentally challenged
#Canada #Vancouver #Ontario #Toronto #onpoli #canpoli #USA #BreakingNews #terror #Montreal #Quebec #Alberta #Calgary
— Open Mic X (@OpenMicX) April 27, 2025
Suspect who drove into crowd at Lapu Lapu Festival identified as 30-year-old Vancouver man. A man driving a black Audi SUV drove into a large crowd attending the Lapu Lapu Day Festival near East 43rd Avenue and Fraser Street. #Canada Driver arrested.https://t.co/CZKAfOYeC2 pic.twitter.com/FreItY5q4V
— News Channel3 Now (@newschannel3now) April 27, 2025
Kai-Ji Adam Lo Vancouver Festival suspect mental health woes
Witnesses later reported that the vehicle struck pedestrians at the event, at least some of whom were in an area that was being used by food trucks.
The driver of the vehicle was apprehended by bystanders, and then taken into custody by police officers.
At the time of his apprehension, video captured the 30 year old suspect trying to shield his face as Adam Lo stood with his back against a chain-link fence, alongside a security guard and surrounded by bystanders screaming and swearing at him.
Why did you do it,’ attendees demanded, before the suspect responding, ‘I am sorry.’
‘It is the darkest day in Vancouver’s history,’ Police Interim Chief Steve Rai told a news conference in the aftermath.
‘The person we have in custody does have a significant history of interactions with police and mental health care professionals related to mental health,’ he said.
Rai stressed that the Lapu Lapu festival attack was not domestic related and more information would be revealed during a Sunday morning press conference (local time).
No further details were provided on the previous interactions Kai-Ji Adam Lo previously had with police, what they entailed or when they took place.
Rai said only that there had not been any interaction with officers in the ‘immediate’ lead-up to the attack, the BBC reported.
The attack has deeply affected Vancouver’s tight-knit Filipino community.
RJ Aquino, the head of the Filipino BC organisation, said that ‘last night was extremely difficult and the community will feel this for a long time.’
‘We know that there’s a lot of questions floating about and we don’t have all the answers, but we want to tell everybody that we’re grieving,’ he added
