The Safety and Security of Crowds Attending Public Events

"[We offer our] deepest condolences to the victims of the Lapu Lapu Day Festival, their families and the entire Filipino community during this incredibly challenging time."

"Vancouver Coastal Health can confirm the alleged driver of the vehicle was under the care of a mental health team and on extended leave in accordance with the Mental Health Act."

"Extended leave is intended to help clients maintain their treatment plans while transitioning back to community for ongoing support."

"The care team followed established guidelines for a client on extended leave, and there was no indication this person was not following their treatment plan or presented a public safety risk."

Vancouver Coastal Health Authority, Vancouver, British Columbia 

"[If a] director considers that leave would benefit a patient detained in the designated facility, the director may release the patient on leave from the designated facility providing appropriate support exists in the community to meet the conditions of the leave."

Subject 37, British Columbia Mental Health Act

Police and first responders are pictured at the intersection of Fraser Street and 43rd Avenue after a vehicle struck a street festival crowd on Saturday. (Ben Nelms/CBC)

The day prior to a deliberate car ramming at a Philippine festival put on by a Filipino-Canadian community in Vancouver, accused mass killer Kai-ji Adam Lo showed up at the Richmond B.C. RCMP detachment in an evident state of disturbance, claiming that someone had been tossing things into his SUV. When an officer followed him outside to search the contents in the back of the black Audi, there was absolutely nothing there. This was the vehicle used by its owner a day later when he killed 11 people at the Filipino street festival.

 

As Lo drove off, the Mountie entered a report into the police computer system, known as PRIME. Following the 26 April car ramming when the 30-year-old driver plowed his SUV through a crowd of festival-goers at the Lapu Lapu event on Saturday in a psychotic rage of killing and injuring men, women and children, officers ran the suspect's name through the PRIME database that revealed the brief interaction of the day before between the mass murderer and a member of the RCMP detachment.

 

Emergency crews respond to the scene. Vancouver police say the driver is in custody. (Ben Nelms/CBC)

 

Now charged with eight counts of second degree murder, with more charges anticipated, Lo's mental health record may very well be used in a court of law to effectively pardon him from his unspeakable crime of mass murder on the basis of his mental condition blocking his innate and and social-values-driven prohibition against committing violent acts of gross criminality. Of the 32 injury victims of Lo's deliberate ramming of his vehicle into a crowded celebratory event of ethnic heritage and pride, 7 individuals are in critical condition while three others sustained serious injuries.

 

Kaiji Adam Lo, believed to have suffered from delusions and paranoia, had dozens of encounters with police over the years. He is now charged with driving his 2018 Audi SUV through a crowd of people on East 43rd Avenue around 8:00 p.m. Saturday at the Filipino festival. British Columbia Premier David Eby announced the creation of "an independent commission" on best practices to safely hold outdoor public events such as this one. There "will be quick turnaround, so that people can feel safe and comfortable attending and celebrating with their communities this summer", he promised.

"If you're worried that an inquiry would jeopardize this case, don't make the inquiry focused on this [tragic event], make it focused on the lack of effective intervention to prevent serious and deadly incidents in this province in the mental care system."

"Let's set this case aside then, and let's just look at the dozen -- at least -- other cases of injuries, dismemberment and even death that have occurred because of people who were mentally ill and obviously not receiving effective support."

B.C. Conservative public safety critic Elenore Sturko 

Police gather at the scene of the tragedy in Vancouver. (Ben Nelms/CBC)