Black Eyed Peas singer reveals he left stage just minutes before fatal Vancouver festival attack
By MELISSA KOENIG
Black Eyed Peas star Apl.de.ap had just left the stage at a Vancouver festival minutes before an unidentified man rammed his SUV into the crowd.
The attack killed at least 11 people and injured scores of others at the Lapu Lapu Day festival Saturday night, and in an Instagram post on Sunday the Philippines-born singer, whose real name is Allan Pineda Lindo, offered his condolences to the victims.
'Our hearts are broken for the victims, their families and everyone affected by the tragedy at the Lapu-Lapu Festival,' he wrote.
'J-Rey and I had just finished performing and left the stage minutes before it happened,' Lindo said of his headlining performance at the Philippines festival with another Pilipino-American singer that ended just before 8pm.
'It's hard to describe the shock and heaviness we feel,' the rapper continued before thanking those who reached out to him in the aftermath.
'Please keep the victims, their families and the organizers in your prayers,' he pleaded. 'They need all the love and strength right now.'
But Lindo also noted that he has felt a 'sense of community that wraps its loving arms around us' since the tragedy occurred.
Authorities have ruled out terrorism as a motive, but have not yet revealed what may have caused the unidentified 30-year-old suspect to attack the festival - only saying on Sunday that he was 'known to police in certain circumstances' and suffered from mental health issues.
Apl.de.ap, whose real name is Allan Pineda Lindo, revealed on Sunday that he had just left the stage at a Pilipino festival in Vancouver when a suspect attacked
Apl.de.ap (pictured right) is a Pilipino rapper known for his work with the Black Eyed Peas
Oddly, the driver had even told onlookers 'I'm sorry' after he slammed his Audi SUV into the crowd - as families including young children and neighbors from across Vancouver rushed to provide first aid for those in need.
Footage from the scene even showed dead bodies and injured partygoers lying in a narrow street lined by food trucks.
The front of the suspect's SUV was also smashed in.
Other video circulating on social media showed a young man in a black hoodie with his back against a chain-link fence, alongside a security guard and surrounded by bystanders screaming and swearing at him, the Associated Press reported.
Interim Vancouver Police Chief Steve Rai declined to comment on the video at a news conference on Sunday, but said the person in custody was a 'lone male' with 'a significant history of interactions with police and health care professionals related to mental health.'
He went on to declare the attack 'the darkest day in Vancouver's history.'
Witnesses have described how the driver sideswiped another vehicle before he revved the SUV's engine and plowed into the crowd.
Kris Pangilinan, who brought his pop-up clothing and lifestyle booth to the festival, for example, said he saw the vehicle enter past the barricade slowly before the driver slammed on the gas in an area that was packed with people.
In a statement on Instagram, he urged everyone to keep the victims in their prayers
The attack on Saturday night killed at least 11 people in downtown Vancouver
This black SUV plowed through a crowd of dozens of festivalgoers
'He sideswiped someone on his right side and I was like, `Oh, yo yo.´ And then he slammed on the gas,' Pangilinan said. 'And the sound of the acceleration, it sounds like an F1 car about to start a race.
'He slammed on the gas, barreled through the crowd. And all I can remember is seeing bodies flying up in the air higher than the food trucks themselves and landing on the ground and people yelling and screaming.
'It looked like a bowling ball hitting bowling pins and all the pins are flying into the air.'
Pangilinan added how the sounds of the bodies hitting the vehicle will never leave his mind.
James Cruzat, a Vancouver business owner, also said he heard the driver rev his engine - followed by a 'loud noise, like a loud bang' that he initially thought might be a gunshot.
'We saw people on the road crying, others were like running, shouting, or even screaming, asking for help,' he recounted.
'So we tried to go there just to check what was really actually happening until we found some bodies on the ground. Others were lifeless, others like, you know, injured.'
Witnesses recounted how the Audi SUV revved its engine before it plowed into the crowd
Nic Magtajas, meanwhile, watched in horror as the attack unfolded.
He described how the SUV roared through the crowd at high speed.
'I saw a bunch of people go over, go high up from the impact of hitting the car,' said Magtajas, 19.
As it roared past, passerby Carayn Nulada said she rushed to pull her granddaughter and grandson off the street and used her body to shield them from the SUV.
Her daughter narrowly escaped getting hit.
'The car hit her arm and she fell down, but she got up, looking for us, because she is scared,' said Nulada, who described children screaming, and pale-faced victims lying on the ground or wedged under vehicles.
'I saw people running and my daughter was shaking.'
Authorities remained on the scene of the fatal attack Sunday morning
Evidence markers line 43rd Avenue in Vancouver, where a vehicle drove into crowd at a street festival on the night before
Vancouver had more than 38,600 residents of Filipino heritage in 2021, representing 5.9 percent of the city´s total population, according to Statistics Canada, the agency that conducts the national census.
They were celebrating Datu Lapu-Lapu, an Indigenous chieftain who stood up to Spanish explorers who came to the Philippines in the 16th century.
The organizers of the Vancouver event - which was in its second year - said Lapu-Lapu 'represents the soul of native resistance, a powerful force that helped shape the Filipino identity in the face of colonization.'
Vancouver Mayor Kenneth Sim said in a social media post that the city would provide more information about the attack when possible.
'I am shocked and deeply saddened by the horrific incident at today´s Lapu Lapu Day event,' Sim said. 'Our thoughts are with all those affected and with Vancouver´s Filipino community during this incredibly difficult time.'
But British Columbia Premier David Eby said the province will not let the tragedy define the celebration as he urged people to channel their rage into helping the victims.
'I don´t think there is a British Columbian that hasn't been touched in some way by the Filipino community,' the premier noted.
'You can´t go to a place that delivers and not meet a member of that community in the long-term care home or hospitals, childcare or schools. This is a community that gives and gives and yesterday was a celebration of their culture.'
Esperanza Bermudez, facing, who lives across the street from the scene, is comforted by friends Manjit Claire, left, the morning after a driver killed multiple people during a Filipino community festival
Sarah Edmilao, a member of the Filipino community who says friends had attended earlier in the day, views flowers at a growing memorial
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Mark Carney and other political leaders used the final day of the election campaign to post messages expressing shock at the violence, condolences for victims and support for the community celebrating its heritage.
'I offer my deepest condolences to the loved ones of those killed and injured, to the Filipino Canadian community, and to everyone in Vancouver. We are all mourning with you,' Carney wrote as he delayed any campaign events.
And overseas, King Charles said both he and Queen Camilla 'were profoundly saddened to learn of the dreadful attack and utterly tragic loss of life in Vancouver, which took place as the Filipino community came together to mark the celebration of one of their most special festivals.
'Our hearts and prayers go out to all those whose lives have been shattered by such a desperate tragedy and we send our deepest possible sympathy at a most agonizing time for so many in Canada.'
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. also issued a statement expressing sympathy with the victims and their families.
'The Philippine Consulate General in Vancouver is working with Canadian authorities to ensure that the incident will be thoroughly investigated, and that the victims and their families are supported and consoled,' he said.
The country's Department of Foreign Affairs said that 'we remember the 1 million strong Filipino community in Canada and pray for their continued strength and resilience.'
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