Vancouver car-ramming suspect was being treated for mental health, confirms mayor
April 30 (UPI) -- The man accused of driving a sport utility vehicle into a crowd at a Filipino festival in Vancouver on Saturday, killing 11 people and injuring dozens more, was being treated for mental health issues and was on extended leave at the time of the crime, the city's mayor said Wednesday.
During a press conference, Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim said that Vancouver Coastal Health confirmed to him that Kai-Ji-Adam Lo, 30, was under the care of a mental healthcare team but was on extended leave.
"This is incredibly difficult to hear and even harder to accept because it points to a deeper failure in the mental health system, and I've said this before and I will say it again: the mental health crisis is not just a health crisis, it has become a public safety crisis," he said.
Lo has been charged with eight counts of second-degree murder in connection with the mass murder car-ramming incident at the Lapu Lapu festival in Vancouver on Saturday evening. Additional charges are expected.
Police have said that Lo has "a significant history" of interaction with police and healthcare professionals related to his mental health. While a motive has not been publicly discussed by the authorities, they say they do not believe it to be terrorism.
Police have also said officers interacted with Lo a day before the attack in a neighboring jurisdiction, but it was not criminal in nature and did not require mental health intervention. The specifics of the contact have not been made public.
Vancouver Coastal Health told CBC News in a statement earlier this week that the suspect was "being followed closely by his care team."
"VCH will continue to review the file, but at this time, the best known information at VCH is that there was no indication of violence in this individual's presentation to the VCH team," the statement said.
"To the care team's knowledge, there was no recent change in his condition or noncompliance with his treatment plan that would've warranted him needing to be hospitalized involuntarily."
In a second press conference, Constable Tania Visintin of the Vancouver Police Department updated the press on the status and identities of the victims.
The Vancouver Police Department has been taking a "victim-centered, trauma-informed" approach to their investigation, which has resulted in little information about the victims being made public.
On Wednesday, Visintin told reporters that 16 surviving victims remain in the hospital. Five are listed in critical condition and one is in serious condition she said. On Tuesday, authorities said seven were in critical condition and three were in serious condition.
All victims have been identified, but authorities were continuing to identify their nationalities.
The mayor confirmed in his press conference that they were working with the Filipino ambassador to Canada and the Filipino government to identify if any of the victims were citizens of the Asian nation.
Concerning the 11 deceased victims, she said seven were women, two men, one non-binary person and a 22-month-old child. The eldest victim was 65.
"We all want the same thing: to understand what happened and to make sure that this never happens again," Sim said.
"This is about getting families, organizations and community the answers they deserve and preventing future incidents."
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