Vancouver authorities should have known festival attacker posed threat, lawsuit says

VANCOUVER — A lawsuit by a man badly hurt in the Lapu Lapu Day festival attack says a psychiatrist was concerned the mental health of the accused was deteriorating before the Vancouver attack, that his delusions were increasing and antipsychotic medication was insufficient.

The proposed class-action civil suit filed in B.C. Supreme Court on Thursday by John Lind names as defendants the City of Vancouver, Vancouver Coastal Health authority and Adam Kai-Ji Lo, who’s accused of 11 counts of second-degree murder and 31 of attempted murder.

The lawsuit says Lo was granted permission by health professionals to be on extended leave from psychiatric care even as he demonstrated increasing paranoia and worsening mental health leading up to the April 26 festival.

In the three months before the attack, the lawsuit says Lo spent more than US$1,000 to buy a device to identify chemical warfare agents, and on the day before the attack, he called Richmond RCMP to say someone spilled chemicals in his SUV and a virus had been installed in his dash camera.

Lind’s lawsuit says he sustained multiple rib fractures, a punctured spleen and lung and kidney laceration, and he seeks damages for himself and others harmed by the vehicle-ramming attack

It says the City of Vancouver and its police department failed to protect those attending the festival, while Vancouver Coastal Health ought to have know that Lo was an imminent threat to himself and others.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 24, 2025.

The Canadian Press