The uncle of Surrey’s latest shooting victim is speaking out and sharing his frustration.
“He did nothing wrong, he wasn’t a gangster. Stop stereotyping, we are not all gangsters,” says Balkar, the uncle of 28-year-old Michael Sandhu.
Last Saturday Michael went for a coffee with his friend Sean Pasha after having dinner with his parents.
When they returned to Sean’s home, they were talking about each other’s weddings on his driveway when the pair was gunned down.
Pasha’s family, including his eight-week-old niece were inside the house at the time of the shooting.
“What a perfect young innocent boy he was, he had done nothing wrong to nobody at all,” says Balkar.
“Sean was excited, he was showing Michael a pair of shoes, ‘what do you think of these shoes, I want to buy these ones for my wedding.’ And that’s what they were discussing the minute it happened.”
Sean was shot on the shoulder and survived – but Michael was shot in the arm and the head and did not survive.
READ MORE: Families of victims in fatal Surrey shooting speak out
Police released a statement saying the shooting was targeted, but his family says that couldn’t be further from the truth.
“He loved his family, he was home all the time. And that’s what all his life was about,” adds Balkar.
According to his family Michael did really well at school. Balkar says he always made his family proud and was just getting ready to get his Real Estate license.
Police later said Michael did not possessed a criminal record nor was he believed to be involved in the current gang conflict.
But Balkar says police need to do more than that to clear his nephew’s name.
“I need the police to come out and say, 100 per cent that Michael was an innocent party in this. Absolutely innocent, nothing wrong with Michael. Wrong place, wrong time,” says Balkar.
However, police said that friends and family members of individuals involved in the street lifestyle could become collateral damage of violent disputes.
In this case it’s believed that one of Sean relatives is caught up in the current conflict.
“We can’t control who’s around us all the time,” says Balkar.
The family and the whole community are still in shock.
Wednesday was the first time the parents were allowed to see their son since the shooting.
A teary Balkar says that for now, all they can do is focus on Michael’s funeral which is being held this Saturday.
With files from Sonia Deol
Comments