VANCOUVER — Three members of a family of Colombian immigrants have been identified among the 11 people killed in a vehicle ramming in Vancouver on Saturday.
Metro Vancouver resident Alejandro Samper says .
Samper says he rushed to the scene of the festival attack after receiving a call from his sister’s fiancé about a “terrible accident,” but he wasn’t allowed in by police.
He says he went to Vancouver General Hospital, where his sister passed away early Sunday morning, but he still hasn’t seen his parents’ bodies and he wasn’t able to say goodbye.
Samper says his family was his "whole world,” that his parents "sacrificed" everything to move them to Canada in the early 2000s, in part to escape the violence of their native Colombia.
His family has started an online fundraiser through the GoFundMe platform.
He says he’s at a loss to understand what happened and why it occurred after hearing about the suspect’s mental health and the lack of security barriers at the event.
"I'm just destroyed," Samper said Tuesday. "My whole world's taken away from me."
Police have charged a 30-year-old man with eight counts of murder and say more charges will likely come. Eleven people were killed and about three dozen were sent to hospitals around the Lower Mainland.
Samper said he's now trying to understand what happened and why.
"My parents sacrificed everything in Colombia, their careers, their lifestyle, everything to give us a better future here in Canada," he said. "It just doesn't make any sense. Canada is supposed to be a safe place."
Samper said he's been left with "many questions" about what happened, and wonders why the festival didn't have barricades like other events, noting that he was at a Vaisakhi event the previous week where protective measures were taken.
He said his parents were the "nicest people" who helped many others, and the family was "very, very close."
"They won't let us see the bodies because everything's under investigation," he said. "So, I never even got to say goodbye to my parents."
He said he's been dealing with a "bombardment" of phone calls about the tragedy, and believes it's important to speak out because "we need to get this message across, like, it's unacceptable this was allowed to happen."
"Where's the security? Where were the police when this happened? Also, like the social system, I heard this person that killed everyone, you know, had a very tragic life."
The brother of another family identified them as victims this week. Toan Le said his brother, Richard Le, Le's wife Linh Hoang and their five-year-old daughter Katie were all killed in Saturday's attack.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 29, 2025.
Darryl Greer, The Canadian Press
