Sikh youth shot dead in latest homicide killing in Canada

Toronto, Dec 12

The death of 24 year-old Sanraj Singh due to gunshot wounds in Alberta province comes latest in the series of Sikhs killings in Canada.

Police said they responded to reports of gunshots in the area of 51 Street and 13 Avenue of Edmonton, capital of Alberta, at approximately 8:40 p.m. on December 3. Upon arrival, they located a male sitting in a vehicle in medical distress.

Singh was given CPR by the police until paramedics arrived and declared him dead.

The Edmonton Medical Examiner on December 7 completed an autopsy on the deceased, and identified him as Sanraj Singh, 24. "The cause of death was gunshot wounds, and the manner of death is homicide," an Edmonton Police statement said.

Homicide investigators have released images of a vehicle of interest that was seen leaving the area at the time of the homicide. They are requesting anyone with information about the vehicle or shooting to contact them.

Canada has been rocked by a spate of Sikh killings in the months starting November. Harpreet Kaur, a 40 year-old Sikh woman died on December 7 after being stabbed multiple times at her home in Surrey, British Columbia. The incident came just two days after 21 year-old Pawanpreet Kaur, another Canadian-Sikh woman, was shot dead outside a gas station in Mississauga on December 3.

Last month, 18 year-old Sikh teen Mehakpreet Sethi was stabbed to death at the parking lot of a high school in Surrey.

The national homicide rate in Canada rose by three per cent in 2021, according to Statistics Canada with police services reporting 788 homicides in the country.

"These incidents have a significant impact, not only on the family and friends of the victim, but the entire community," Sgt Timothy Pierotti of the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team had told the media after Harpreet Kaur's killing.