Windsor's Filipino community grieving after the Lapu-Lapu Day festival tragedy

The flags outside Windsor's Filipino Community Centre are flying at half mast Monday following the horrific events that unfolded during Vancouver's Lapu Lapu Day Filipino festival. 

Eleven people were killed and multiple others injured after the driver of a black SUV slammed into a crowd Saturday evening at the street festival which had been celebrating the contributions of the Filipino Canadian community, police confirmed. It happened as the block party was winding down, after drawing up to 100,000 people throughout the day. 

"This shocked me to the core," said Eddy Chu, the vice-president of the Filipino Community Centre in Windsor. 

"There's a sense of fear that 'Oh my, what's going on with this world now?'"

Leaders with the community centre say people in Windsor are grieving and giving their condolences. 

"We can tell them that just to be strong and pray for the people who pass away," said Victor Barrera, the group's treasurer. 

"I hope that those things will not [happen] here in Windsor, in Ontario. I hope it will never happen again."

Police are not investigating the incident as an act of terrorism, saying they do not believe there was religious or political ideology behind it. A 30-year-old Vancouver man is facing murder charges.

"It's so sad to hear things that, you know, so, so many people being killed and, you know, a lot of wounded and hope that we can help in a way, praying for the victims," said Camilo Santos, the president of the community centre. 

He explained that the group plans on organizing an event like a mass or a vigil soon to honour the lives lost, while also connecting with community groups in British Columbia to find a way to support them from afar. 

"We are resilient people. We know we will overcome," said Roger Clemente, a member of the centre's board of directors. 

"We thank the community and here in Windsor-Essex for all their support and we stand in solidarity with all the Filipino community and nationwide, join them in their prayers and for healing. And we hope everybody does understand that this is a sad and horrific moment, and we need some consolation for all these things that are happening."