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 he lost his mother Glitza Maria Caicedo, his father Daniel Samper and his sister Glitza Daniela Samper in the attack.
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.
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.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 29, 2025
Darryl Greer, The Canadian Press
