VPD brushes off questions about festival attack suspect’s past interactions with police

Vancouver Police Department spokesperson Const. Tania Visintin provides an update and takes questions from reporters.

At its daily briefing Wednesday, the Vancouver Police Department was once again peppered with questions about the man accused of the vehicle attack that killed 11 at the Lapu-Lapu Day street festival in South Vancouver Saturday night.

Once again, the VPD declined to answer those questions.

“I appreciate the question,” said VPD spokesperson Const. Tania Visintin, after a reporter attempted to reframe questions about the suspect’s past interactions with police in hypothetical terms.

“I’m not trying to come off as rude or inconsiderate. I appreciate the question. I know it’s a question everyone has, and they keep asking, obviously. We’re not going to speak in hypothetical terms. Definitely not. I’m here to speak to the facts of the investigation, and I’m going to leave the history of our accused for us to form part of our investigation.”

The history of the accused – 30-year-old Kai-ji Adam Lo, who has so far charged with eight counts of second-degree murder in connection to the incident – was invoked by interim VPD Chief Const. Steve Rai less than 24 hours after the devastating attack.

“I can tell you that the person we have in custody does have a significant history of interactions with police and health-care professionals related to mental health,” Rai said at a news conference on Sunday.

Since Rai’s comments, the VPD has steadfastly refused to confirm any further details about those interactions, even as reports about Lo’s activities in the days and hours leading up to the incident have surfaced.

On Tuesday, Vancouver Coastal Health confirmed the accused 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.”

• Read more: Man accused in mass killing at Vancouver Filipino festival was on leave from hospital

While Visintin declined to answer most of the questions that were posed to her Wednesday, she did provide a few notable updates about the attack.

First, she clarified that police have learned new information about the genders of the 11 deceased victims. Seven were women, two were men, one was a non-binary adult and one was a child, Visintin said.

She added that 16 additional victims of the attack remain in hospital with injuries. Five of them are in critical condition and one is in serious condition.

“All victims that we know of have been identified,” Visintin said. “If there are people who have not yet come forward, please do so when you feel ready – this is in regards to victims.”

She had a similar message for witnesses who have not yet come forward.

“We are aware that there may be witnesses speaking to the media that have not yet come forward to police,” Visintin said. “We are asking those people to call our investigators directly.”

Investigators are also requesting that anyone with video from the festival recorded between 8 and 8:30 p.m. provide it to them, she said.

“Investigators are requesting firsthand video footage, not copies, not duplicates of footage from social media or online,” Visintin said.