Hindu temple leader says shots fired at son's home in Surrey, B.C. - Action News
Home WebMail Friday, November 22, 2024, 02:09 PM | Calgary | -10.4°C | Regions Advertise Login | Our platform is in maintenance mode. Some URLs may not be available. |
British Columbia

Hindu temple leader says shots fired at son's home in Surrey, B.C.

The leader of a Metro VancouverHindu templesays his son's Surrey home was the target of a Wednesday morning shooting police are currently investigating.

RCMP say no one was injured in the Dec. 29 shooting, and it is unclear whether it was targeted

A man stands in a park.
Satish Kumar, president of the Lakshmi Narayan Mandirtemple, says his family is shaken and does not know why shots would be fired at his son's Surrey home early on the morning of Dec. 27. (CBC News)

The leader of a Metro VancouverHindu templesayshis son's Surrey, B.C., home was the target of a Wednesday morning shooting.

Satish Kumar, president of Surrey'sLakshmi Narayan Mandirtemple, sayshis son was awakened by a disturbance outside his Newton-area homearound 2 a.m. on Dec. 27, butcouldn't see anything amiss when he looked out the front door.

It wasn't until after Kumar's sonwoke up around 8 a.m. that he saw the apparent bullet holes in his garage door and on the gate to his property about 11 in total, Kumar told CBC News.

"We have no idea what the reason is," Kumar said on Sunday. "It's very scary, very disturbing."

Four glass panels on the home's garage door were shattered and boarded up with wood on Sunday, with at least two apparent bullet holes in the metal frame of the panels visible to a CBC reporter at the scene.

A garage door with at least one bullet hole and four shattered glass panels.
Satish Kumar says he has no idea why anyone would have shot at his son's home, and does not believe it is related to the ongoing Lower Mainland gang conflict or tensions between Sikh separatists and Hindus. (Joel Ballard/CBC)

Surrey RCMPsaid Thursday that no one was injured in the shooting on 80Avenue,and they are still trying to determine the motive behind it.

Kumar says neither he nor his son have received threats. He also says neither he nor his son have any relation to the Lower Mainland gang conflict, or involvement in any political or religious disputes.

Surrey and Abbotsford are seeing rising levels of gun violence and South Asian communities,particularly Sikhs, are worried for their safety after the shooting death of Surrey gurdwara president Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June, Kumar said.

"All the communities are very scared about what's going on," he said, noting he and local South Asianleaders are planning a community safety meeting for next weekend.

"This is not only gunshots at my son, this could happen to anybody in the future."

A metal gate with a black knob with a bullet hole next to it.
Kumar says his family is disturbed and concerned for their safety amid rising gun violence in Surrey, including at his son's home where an apparent bullet hole on his gate is pictured on Dec. 31, 2023. (CBC News)

When asked by CBC News on Sunday whether the shooting was believed to be targeted, Surrey RCMP Sgt. Chris De Hart said he did not have that information available and hoped to have an update in the coming days.

2 other shootings in city

Two other shooting occurred in the city on Friday, just two days after the incident at Kumar's son's home.

In the first shooting, officersarrested two menafter they received reports of gunshots near 101Avenueand 156Streetin the Guildford areaaround 2 p.m. PT, according to a Friday afternoon statement from Surrey RCMP.

Around seven hours after the Guildford shooting,RCMPresponded to reports of gunfireon the 7800-block of 167Streetin Fleetwood, shortly before 9:30 p.m. PT on Friday, according to a statement later that evening.

Mounties said no one was injured in either shooting, and told CBC News on Saturday they don't have evidence the two Friday incidents are related to each other.

RCMPsaid Monday that charges had been laid against two men in the Guildford shooting.

Roman Arinder Gill, 24, is facing five charges includingunlawful dischargeof a firearm andassaulting a police officer with a weapon, while 28-year-old Shaun Narinder Gill is charged with flight from police, driving while prohibitedand dangerous operation of a motor vehicle, according to B.C. court records.

Both men are set to appear in Surrey Provincial Court on Jan. 3.

Anyone with information or dashcam footage of the areas around any of the three shootings is asked to contact RCMPat 604-599-0502.

- With files from Joel Ballard and Moira Wyton