@VancouverPD     Eleven people have now died as a result of the mass-casualty event at the Lapu Lapu Day Festival. Our hearts are with all of the victims, their loved ones, and everyone who has been impacted by this act of violence. This is the darkest day in our city’s history.

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“This is the darkest day in our city’s history,” the interim chief constable Steve Rai told reporters on Sunday morning, adding that more deaths were possible in the coming days. “It’s hard to make sense of something so senseless.”

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Rai said officials felt confident the incident was not an act of terrorism and there were no known prior threats to the Filipino community. A 30-year-old man who had been driving a black Audi SUV was arrested.

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The arrested man has an “extensive history” of interactions with police and mental health professionals, he added.

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Datu Lapulapu, the chief of Mactan, an island now part of the central Visayas region of the Philippines, defeated Spanish forces led by the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan in 1521.

Primary accounts of that day are limited, but Lapulapu’s victory has become a symbol of bravery and resistance to colonial rule.

British Columbia officially recognised 27 April as Lapu Lapu Day in 2023, with local officials noting the date was an opportunity to “learn more about the history of people in British Columbia of Filipino heritage and to celebrate their contributions to the vibrancy and prosperity of the province”.

The province is home to a significant Filipino community, with 172,915 people of Filipino origin living in British Columbia in 2021, about 3.46% of the population.