NEW DELHI: Two people, including an Indian-origin Sikh man identified as Buta Singh Gill, were killed in a shooting incident in Canada‘s south Edmonton on Monday, as per Canada-based CTV News reports.
Gill was the owner of Edmonton-based Gill Built Homes. Southwest Branch patrol officers responded to the report of a shooting in the area of Cavanagh Boulevard Southwest and Cherniak Way Southwest and are investigating the deaths of two men, the Edmonton police said in a press release.
Edmonton police said, “At approximately 12:00 pm today, Monday, April 8, 2024, Southwest Branch patrol officers responded to the report of a shooting in the area of Cavanagh Boulevard SW and Cherniak Way SW.”
“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. Paramedics transported the surviving male to hospital with serious life-threatening injuries,” it added.
According to the Edmonton Police Service (EPS), the homicide section has taken control of the investigation, and police are not actively seeking any suspects. The police have confirmed that autopsies for the victims are scheduled to take place on Tuesday and Wednesday.
CTV News Edmonton reported that the family of one of the victims has identified him. Approximately 50 individuals, on Monday afternoon, primarily members of the South Asian home-building community, gathered at the site in response to the tragic incident.
In a post on X, the EPS said, “Police are asking citizens to avoid the area of Cavanagh Blvd SW and 30 Avenue SW while police investigate a shooting that occurred in the residential area around noon.”
“There are no immediate concerns for public safety at this time and responding officers have secured the scene. EPS homicide investigators will be leading this investigation. No further details are available,” it added.
Former Edmonton city councillor and ex-EPS member Mohinder Banga said he came to the site of the incident after hearing about it.
Banga said, “He was such a nice person, and he would jump in to help people whenever they needed help and without looking for anything in return. That was his quality.” He added, “Obviously, you can see all the people here, they’re all well-wishers and the community is in shock right now.”
An eyewitness Lindsay Hilton who witnessed the shooting while heading home, said she saw a man in construction attire walking down Cavanagh Boulevard. Suddenly a black car came out of a nearby construction site, did a U-turn, drove up behind the man and bumped him, she added.
Hilton said, “The man in the construction vest had his gun out, pointed at the car and shot once into the driver’s side window, then I went right around the corner because I didn’t know what was going to happen.” She said, “I heard two more gunshots following.”
Hilton said she pulled over and called 911.
She said, “I have had moments of breaking down like this into tears because it’s just something I think that you just don’t expect to see in broad daylight. It just looked like another interaction of guys stopping to talk at the construction site, so when I saw him pull that gun and shoot, it just took me a minute even to put together what happened.”
Another witness, Abby Sieban, shared her experience of hearing gunshots while she was walking with her children in the stroller.
(With inputs from agencies)
Gill was the owner of Edmonton-based Gill Built Homes. Southwest Branch patrol officers responded to the report of a shooting in the area of Cavanagh Boulevard Southwest and Cherniak Way Southwest and are investigating the deaths of two men, the Edmonton police said in a press release.
Edmonton police said, “At approximately 12:00 pm today, Monday, April 8, 2024, Southwest Branch patrol officers responded to the report of a shooting in the area of Cavanagh Boulevard SW and Cherniak Way SW.”
“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. Paramedics transported the surviving male to hospital with serious life-threatening injuries,” it added.
According to the Edmonton Police Service (EPS), the homicide section has taken control of the investigation, and police are not actively seeking any suspects. The police have confirmed that autopsies for the victims are scheduled to take place on Tuesday and Wednesday.
CTV News Edmonton reported that the family of one of the victims has identified him. Approximately 50 individuals, on Monday afternoon, primarily members of the South Asian home-building community, gathered at the site in response to the tragic incident.
In a post on X, the EPS said, “Police are asking citizens to avoid the area of Cavanagh Blvd SW and 30 Avenue SW while police investigate a shooting that occurred in the residential area around noon.”
“There are no immediate concerns for public safety at this time and responding officers have secured the scene. EPS homicide investigators will be leading this investigation. No further details are available,” it added.
Former Edmonton city councillor and ex-EPS member Mohinder Banga said he came to the site of the incident after hearing about it.
Banga said, “He was such a nice person, and he would jump in to help people whenever they needed help and without looking for anything in return. That was his quality.” He added, “Obviously, you can see all the people here, they’re all well-wishers and the community is in shock right now.”
An eyewitness Lindsay Hilton who witnessed the shooting while heading home, said she saw a man in construction attire walking down Cavanagh Boulevard. Suddenly a black car came out of a nearby construction site, did a U-turn, drove up behind the man and bumped him, she added.
Hilton said, “The man in the construction vest had his gun out, pointed at the car and shot once into the driver’s side window, then I went right around the corner because I didn’t know what was going to happen.” She said, “I heard two more gunshots following.”
Hilton said she pulled over and called 911.
She said, “I have had moments of breaking down like this into tears because it’s just something I think that you just don’t expect to see in broad daylight. It just looked like another interaction of guys stopping to talk at the construction site, so when I saw him pull that gun and shoot, it just took me a minute even to put together what happened.”
Another witness, Abby Sieban, shared her experience of hearing gunshots while she was walking with her children in the stroller.
(With inputs from agencies)