Kai-Ji Adam Lo: What we know about the Vancouver festival suspect after 11 killed by car driven into crowd
The man accused of driving into festival goers in Vancouver over the weekend killing 11 people had a history of mental health issues after his brother’s murder last year, police have said.
Police identified the suspect as Kai-Ji Adam Lo, 30, and charged him with eight counts of second-degree murder after a black Audi Q7 SUV was driven into a Filipino heritage festival at around 8pm on Saturday night. The “mass casualty event” at the Lapu Lapu festival near East 43rd Avenue and Fraser Street also injured more than 20 people.
Lo was apprehended by bystanders at the scene, who detained him until police arrived and arrested him. “The charge assessment is ongoing and further charges are anticipated,” the police said.
Online footage showed a young man in a black hoodie with his back against a chain-link fence surrounded by bystanders screaming and swearing at him.
“I’m sorry,” the young man, appearing visibly distressed and holding his hand to his head, could be heard saying.
Interim police chief Steve Rai said the person in custody was a lone male who was “known to police in certain circumstances” but it would be “unfair” to make comments on whether he was on bail.
He had “a significant history of interactions with police and healthcare professionals related to mental health”.
“It is hard to make sense of something so senseless,” the interim police chief said, “and I know there are questions about whether this tragedy could have been prevented.”
Mayor Ken Sim also said Lo had a long history of interactions related to mental health with first responders.
Lo did not have previous criminal charges against him, but a troubled family history. His brother was murdered last year, and Lo condemned the “senseless act of violence” when he launched a GoFundMe donation campaign.
His brother was found dead on 28 January 2024 in a home 2km from where the family lived, the Globe and Mail reported. A suspect in the case, Dwight William Kematch, 39, was arrested and charged with second-degree murder.
A few months later, in August, he reportedly again asked for donations, this time for his mother who had attempted suicide and needed hospitalization for a month.
A relative of Lo had contacted a local hospital’s psychiatric ward barely hours before the attack because of his worsening mental health, Vancouver Sun reported.
The incident occurred less than 48 hours before Canada’s federal election on Monday. Police said there was no suggestion at the moment of a connection between the incident and the election.
