Investigators believe a man and his 11-year-old son were both intentionally shot and killed in a vehicle in southeast Edmonton on Thursday, according to police.
Acting Supt. Colin Derksen with the Edmonton Police Service held a news conference about the killings on Friday morning.
Police have identified the father killed as 41-year-old Harpreet Uppal, who they allege was a gang member involved in the drug trade.
Derksen did not identify the boy who was killed but noted investigators believe he was not mistakenly caught in the line of fire, and instead was deliberately shot.
He added that a friend of the boy who was killed was also in the car. That boy was not physically hurt.
Before the shooting, the two boys had just gone inside a fast-food restaurant, which shares space with a gas station.
Derksen said there had been previous attempts on Harpreet Uppal’s life, including at a pizza restaurant two years ago where he was shot at.
“Mr. Uppal was very well known to us, very high up in the gang drug world,” Derksen said. “We had worked very hard over the years to try to warn and give him opportunities to step out of that lifestyle, and keep him and his family safe.”
Derksen suggested Thursday’s shooting is a sign of the changing nature of violent crime in Edmonton.
“The landscape has changed,” Derksen told reporters. “There’s no longer any respect for children, families or innocent bystanders amongst our gangsters when they carry out violence to further their own interests.
“It’s understandable that Edmontonians are shaken today.”
He noted the shooting occurred in broad daylight in a busy area with a daycare nearby.
“Even though this was a targeted event, the risk to the public was significant… and terrifying,” Derksen said, adding that investigators are still working to track down the suspect(s) and to determine what motivated the deadly attack.
Police said they continue to look into whether there is a connection between Thursday’s shooting and the discovery of a burned-out SUV found nearby with nobody in it.
Derksen noted police are concerned by an increase in the number of shootings in Alberta’s capital.
He said police officers have responded to 196 shootings so far in 2023, a 46 per cent increase over the same time last year.
Because of what Derksen said investigators know about Harpreet Uppal, he said there are possible scenarios that detectives are exploring.
“Often the motivation is a struggle for power … sometimes it’s just retaliation,” Derksen said. “We don’t know what the exact motivation was … We just know from experience … it’s going to have something to do with the drug and gang industry.”
Premier Danielle Smith posted on social media about what happened and said she has been concerned about the rise in gun violence.
“With a heavy heart, I contemplate how it’s conceivable for a child to be killed in such a tragic manner like this,” she posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“Our government supports the Edmonton police as they work to bring those responsible to justice.”
–With files from The Canadian Press’ Bob Weber and Jamin Mike
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