VANCOUVER, BC – As reported in the Vancouver Sun, the man accused of driving into a crowd at a Filipino cultural festival in southeast Vancouver, killing at least 11 people, has been charged with eight counts of murder.
Kai-ji Adam Lo, 30, faces additional charges as the investigation into the devastating Saturday attack at the Lapu Lapu Day festival continues, according to Vancouver Police. Authorities said some victims remain unidentified.
Police executed a search warrant at Lo’s east Vancouver residence Sunday evening. About 10 officers entered the home, which Lo shared with his mother, through a side gate leading to both a basement suite and a laneway house. Officers carried out several boxes during the search. Police vehicles blocked both the front of the house and the back alley.
Lo’s background reveals a troubling history. In January 2024, his older brother, Alexander Lo, 31, was murdered inside a home near Knight Street and East 33rd Avenue. Dwight William Kematch, 39, was arrested at the scene and later charged with second-degree murder.
In a fundraising post written after Alexander’s death, Adam Lo expressed profound grief. “It pains me deeply to put these words down, but my brother has been taken from us in a senseless act of violence, something we never saw coming,” he wrote. “Our reality has abruptly shifted. Despite our disagreements, the harsh truth that he’s no longer with us hits me with an overwhelming force.”
Lo thanked donors who contributed more than $9,000 toward funeral costs and shared feelings of regret: “I’m burdened with remorse for not spending more time with him. I implore you to keep his soul in your thoughts and prayers.”
Just months later, Lo again turned to the public for support, revealing that his mother had attempted suicide following the family’s loss. “The unimaginable grief brought upon my mother is something that is worse than my own sadness,” he wrote. “For she brought him into this world, only for him to leave abruptly, it is a sadness I cannot begin to express.”
Lo had no prior criminal record, court databases show. Property records indicate that Lo and his mother co-owned a 2018 Audi Q7 SUV – the same model of vehicle used in the fatal attack along East 43rd Avenue.
Sources told Postmedia that a family member contacted a hospital psychiatric ward hours before the rampage, citing concerns about Lo’s mental health, including delusions and paranoia. It is unclear what action, if any, was taken. Police confirmed that both they and health care professionals had numerous recent interactions with Lo regarding his deteriorating mental state.
British Columbia Premier David Eby addressed the tragedy on Sunday, calling the attacker “profoundly ill” and emphasizing the urgent need for more robust mental health interventions. “We have a huge need in the province for interventionist mental health services,” Eby said, noting the recent opening of secure involuntary treatment beds at Surrey pretrial jail.
However, Eby cautioned against jumping to conclusions about the attack’s causes. “It’s important for investigators or others to go into this with an open mind, to provide the answers to the public, to everybody that they find, so that we can ensure that we have the systems in place to prevent this kind of thing from happening,” he said.
“There are so many questions that I have. There are so many questions that British Columbians have about how that could take place, how we could get to that moment, and as we learn those answers, we’ll take the action that’s necessary to ensure that it can’t happen again,” Eby added.
The Vancouver Police Department said Sunday that the investigation is ongoing and urged anyone with additional information to come forward.
