New Delhi: Buta Singh Gill, a well-known Indo-Canadian home builder in Edmonton, Canada, is believed to be one of two people killed around noon on Monday at a construction site in the southwest part of the city.
The Edmonton Police are yet to identify the two victims, but Canadian local media said Gill was one of them. Gill is said to have headed the construction company Gill Built Homes Limited, and was an active member of the local gurudwara in Edmonton.
“At approximately 12:00 p.m. today, Monday, Apr. 8, 2024, Southwest Branch patrol officers responded to the report of a shooting in the area of Cavanagh Boulevard SW and Cherniak Way SW,” said a statement released by the Edmonton Police Services Monday.
The statement added: “Upon police arrival three injured males were located. EMS responded and determined two males, a 49-year-old and a 57-year-old were deceased, and a 51-year-old male was seriously injured.”
The statement released by the Edmonton Police also said they were not looking for any suspects and that autopsies for the two bodies were scheduled for 9 April and 10 April.
Around 50 people were said to have gathered at the scene to mourn the death of Gill. A witness told Global News Canada that she heard a “loud banging noise” and after the police had arrived at the scene, a second gunshot was heard.
Another local Canadian news outlet, CTV News Edmonton, reported that a witness saw a “man in a construction vest” walking down the street when a black Nissan vehicle pulled out of the site and “bumped” into him.
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The man in the vest pulled out a gun and shot at the driver, the witness told CTV News Edmonton.
The police in their statement pointed said the 51-year-old male who was injured was taken to a hospital with “serious life threatening injuries”.
According to local media, shootings in Edmonton increased by 34 percent in 2023 from 2022. Furthermore, the Royal Canadian Mountain Police (RCMP) in February this year announced the formation of a “nation-wide alliance” of various police departments in the provinces of British Columbia, Ontario and Alberta to coordinate probes into extortion and violence faced by South Asians in the country.
“Generally, police in Canada have reported that individuals or businesses from the South Asian community are contacted through a letter, phone calls or social media and demands for money are made under threats of violence.”
In the same statement released by the RCMP, Staff Sergeant Dave Paton of the Edmonton Police Service was quoted as saying that there were at least 34 extortion series events in the city that were being investigated.
(Edited by Tikli Basu)
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