Police say that driver who hit crowd and killed 11 people did not commit terrorism

Eleven people were killed and at least 20 others injured when a man drove through a crowd at a street festival in Vancouver, authorities said. A 30-year-old from Vancouver was arrested at the scene.

Dozens of others were injured, some seriously, as the ramming shook the country before a federal election. A man driving a black Audi SUV entered the street just after 8 p.m. Saturday and struck people attending the Lapu Lapu Day festival.

“It is the darkest day in Vancouver’s history,” Vancouver Police Interim Chief Steve Rai told a news conference. “The person we have in custody does have a significant history of interactions with police and health care professionals related to mental health,” he said.

This fact is likely the reason why Vancouver police ruled out terrorism as the motive for this horrific attack. Video of the aftermath shows the dead and injured along a narrow street in South Vancouver lined by food trucks. The front of the driver’s SUV is smashed in.

A 30-year-old Vancouver man was arrested at the scene. A witness said that the man was arrested after initially being apprehended by bystanders. Video circulating on social media shows 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. “I’m sorry,” the man says, holding his hand to his head.

Police said that the man who committed these acts had a “significant history” of interactions with authorities involving mental health.