Flowers are left near the crime scene after a man drove a vehicle into pedestrians at the annual Lapu Lapu festival celebrating Filipino culture, in Vancouver, Canada, on April 27, 2025. Canadian police arrested a man on April 26 after a car plowed into a street party in the western city of Vancouver killing 11 people. Nav Rahi, AFP

Last Saturday’s car attack at a Filipino street party in Vancouver has traumatized some residents, with one eyewitness saying he may skip similar events in the near future. 

Ramon Lavin, a Filipino resident in Vancouver, said he and his companions were lining up to buy food after the concert held by the Black Eyed Peas’ apl.de.ap and J Rey when they heard loud noises that they thought were gunshots.

“Pagkatapos ng concert around 8pm sa concert ni Apl De Ap, madaming tao nun. Sabi namin, lumabas na tayo kasi masyadong marami ng tao at para makabili na ng pagkain. Maraming food cart pa doon that time tapos may mga nakapila. Sabi ko sa mga kasama ko, ‘Pumila na kayo dahil bibili tayo pagkain.’ Maya-maya, may narinig kaming parang malalaking pagsabog doon. Sabi namin ‘Ano ‘yun, gunshot ba ‘yun?’” he said in a TeleRadyo Serbisyo interview.

(There were a lot of people after the concert of apl.de.ap at around 8 p.m. We said, let’s go out because there’s so many people and we need to buy food. There were a lot of food carts there and people were lining up. I told my friends, ‘Get in line so we can buy food.’ And then we heard loud noises. We thought: ‘Are those gunshots?’)

“Nagtakbuhan na kami. Wala kaming idea anong nangyayari hanggang sa nakita namin ‘yung sasakyan tapos ang daming namatay,” he added.

(We started running. We didn’t know what was happening until we saw the SUV and so many people dead.)

Lavin said he and his friends could have been victims themselves had they not moved out of the way. The entire incident happened in just minutes.

“Hanggang ngayon shock pa rin ako. Paano nangyari yun…Tumakbo na kami palayo kasi sabi namin baka meron pa.  Akala namin terrorist attack, sabi namin iba ito. Hindi mo akalain na ganun kasi event ng mga Filipino ‘yun and ‘yung Filipino community naman dito ay masaya at taon taon dun sine-celebrate ito,” he said. 

(Until now, I’m still in shock how it happened. We ran away because we thought it might not be over. We thought it was a terrorist attack. We said this is something else. You would never think that would happen because it’s a Filipino event and the Filipino community are very happy. That celebration happens every year,” he said.

Lavin said he is unsure if he will attend another major Filipino event scheduled this June.

“May malaking activity dito sa June, Pinoy Festival. Sinasabi namin, mag-aattend pa ba kayo? Natakot kami na huwag na, that’s enough na, siguro last event na muna namin ito. Parang na-trauma kami na baka may mangyari ulit, meron na namang gumawa ulit ng ganun.”

(There’s another big event in June, the Pinoy Festival. We were asking, are we still going? We are thinking maybe not, that’s enough, that’s the last event for us. It’s like we were traumatized that it might happen again, that someone would do something similar.)

At least 11 people were killed after an SUV driven by 30-year-old Kai-Ji Adam Lo plowed into the Lapu Lapu street festival, which commemorates a Filipino anti-colonial leader from the 16th century.

Lo, 30, a Vancouver resident, has been charged with eight counts of second degree murder by the BC Prosecution Service and remains in custody. The charge assessment is ongoing and further charges are anticipated, police said.

Footage posted online and verified by AFP shows the vehicle with a damaged hood parked on a street littered with debris, meters from first aid crews tending to people lying on the ground.

Eyewitness Dale Selipe told the Vancouver Sun that she saw injured children on the street after the vehicle rammed into the crowd.

"There was a lady with her eyes staring up, one of her legs was already broken. One person was holding her hand trying to comfort her," Selipe told the newspaper.

Festival security guard Jen Idaba-Castaneto told a local news site that she saw bodies everywhere.

"You don't know who to help, here or there," she said. 

With a report from Agence France-Presse