Vancouver Festival Tragedy

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Kimmio Laughterlove

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I’m sure everybody has heard about the tragic incident at the Filipino festival yesterday so I don’t think I need to post a link. As you likely know, a driver ploughed his car through a street party and killed several people, including a 5 year old, and critically injured many others. I just want to acknowledge it out loud here and express my sadness and exasperation about the senseless violence and lack of proper preventitive (voluntary) health and community and social supports to very ill people early on so that these tragedies don’t occur.

It’s horrific for everyone. Healing wishes (yes prayers) go out to all the hurting people.
 
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Kimmio Laughterlove said:
I’m sure everybody has heard about the tragic incident at the Filipino festival yesterday so I don’t think I need to post a link. As you likely know, a driver ploughed his car through a street party and killed several people, including a 5 year old, and critically injured many others. I just want to acknowledge it out loud here and express my sadness and exasperation about the senseless violence and lack of proper preventitive (voluntary) health and community and social supports to very ill people early on so that these tragedies don’t occur.

It’s horrific for everyone. Healing wishes (yes prayers) go out to all the hurting people.
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Yes, that's definitely horrific, and I'd heard nothing about it till now. Joining you in praying
 
Just awful.....I heard there wasn't any security (police, fencing) set up?
Not sure that would have stopped it from happening, but maybe a faster response?
Vehicles used as weapons has become a thing on a few occasions in Canada, unfortunately.
Thankfully the crowd captured the murderer and held him until police arrived.
All those lives affected by this senseless act....very sad.
 
It looked like a horrific incident. I haven't watched the police updates because we were busy and because it wasn't the weekend for that for us. We watched one "breaking news" story from Global. The one reporter said the streets had been blocked off, including the street the driver used. He was puzzled about how the driver accessed the area. I think I remember him saying the barricades may have been removed because the festival was ending.
 
Northwind said:
It looked like a horrific incident. I haven't watched the police updates because we were busy and because it wasn't the weekend for that for us. We watched one "breaking news" story from Global. The one reporter said the streets had been blocked off, including the street the driver used. He was puzzled about how the driver accessed the area. I think I remember him saying the barricades may have been removed because the festival was ending.
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Ah, I didn't know that. Thanks.
 
Northwind said:
It looked like a horrific incident. I haven't watched the police updates because we were busy and because it wasn't the weekend for that for us. We watched one "breaking news" story from Global. The one reporter said the streets had been blocked off, including the street the driver used. He was puzzled about how the driver accessed the area. I think I remember him saying the barricades may have been removed because the festival was ending.
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No actually. The complaints are that the streets weren’t blocked off with big trucks and visible police presence like they’ve done at other festivals because of the assessment based on last year (its first). It was a low risk event having had no problems at all. Now, unfortunately because of this, we are going to have to see more heavily guarded community events.
 
Kimmio Laughterlove said:
No actually. The complaints are that the streets weren’t blocked off with big trucks and visible police presence like they’ve done at other festivals because of the assessment based on last year (its first). It was a low risk event having had no problems at all. Now, unfortunately because of this, we are going to have to see more heavily guarded community events.
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Thanks for clarifying. The reporter was clearly impacted by this. I saw it when I was really tired after a long Saturday afternoon. It was also one of the first reports out.
 
Not a nice thing to wake up to even at my distance from it. Seems like an isolated, mental health-related incident rather than a planned, deliberate attack but still, what a tragedy. A celebration turned into a nightmare. Vibes going to out to the West Coast.

Only 8 charges laid with 11 dead and 20+ injured so I am guessing the police and attorney-general will be back in court soon. I can't see this stopping at 8.

The fundamental problem with the criticism being leveled at police is that if they go too heavy-handed with presence at events like this, they get hammered for that, too. They said last year went off with no policing issues so they took a light touch this year and I think that's fair given some political realities like the defund police movement. So where's the balance? They based it on the specifics of this event and that's how it should work. Not a blanket, all festivals need barriers and cops, but evaluating each based on risk. With no threats and no known issues in the community that could cause problems, why would they have policed it differently?
 
I agree. When I said, “We’re going to have to see more heavily guarded events” it’s because that will likely be the response imposed, not because I want that to be the case. It’s left people scared, understandably, and that’s what I’m reading that a lot of locals are calling for. People are also painting those with mental illnesses with an increasingly broader brush, as dangerous, rather than as people who need proper support before they deteriorate and snap like this man did.
 
Kimmio Laughterlove said:
People are also painting those with mental illnesses with an increasingly broader brush, as dangerous, rather than as people who need proper support before they deteriorate and snap like this man did.
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Mental illness only becomes a danger to others when nothing is done. The fact that he had previous encounters with police and first responders suggests that this is the result of his condition not being dealt with properly in the past. An inquiry into the mental health supports and why this man seems to have slipped through the cracks would be a good idea but would have to wait for the trial to be over. Sadly, a lot of people will just think that locking him (and others) up is enough.
 
Mendalla said:
Mental illness only becomes a danger to others when nothing is done. The fact that he had previous encounters with police and first responders suggests that this is the result of his condition not being dealt with properly in the past. An inquiry into the mental health supports and why this man seems to have slipped through the cracks would be a good idea but would have to wait for the trial to be over. Sadly, a lot of people will just think that locking him (and others) up is enough.
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Even when nothing is done, most are not dangerous - more “inconvenient” or seen as weird or misfits - and some weird misfits have done amazing and good things. But I think the possibly increasing dangerous element is also a symptom of the hostile world we’re living in right now and general social breakdown. Arresting and locking up is not the way out of broader social breakdown.
 
I hope they do an inquiry that involves the lack of supports for the man. More importantly, I hope that this leads to improvements in mental health supports. Of course I'm being optimistic in that statement.

Festivals like this do need a security that is balanced and that doesn't interfere with the festivities.
 
Certain kinds of schizophrenia might cause someone to act out like this. It would be a minority for the record. Anything where the person feels that they are being told by voices or whatever to do something.
 
He may not be schizophrenic or personality disordered. Turns out the perpetrator was grieving some awful family things prior to this incident - murdered brother, suicidal grieving mother - trauma not unlike that of the families of his victims, now. Before the public and police start overreacting anytime anyone is going through a crisis or hard time and there is an appetite for reinstitutionalization/ carceral treatment of mental illness “just in case”, we have to remember 1 in 5 people experience mental illness at some point, and the vast majority of people do not react with violence. Some do, but a statistical minority do. A far tinier number would do something this extreme (the very few horrific incidences around the world stand out in our memories). I hope this is not going to fuel an overreaction or make this person into an example that is also unhealthy for society. It was a horrific act but we can’t paint mentally ill people with a broad brush. It seems to be human nature to do that but it’s not fair either. It might discourage people from opening up and seeking help if mental illness is hyper-stigmatized.
 
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