One year later, mother of Surrey shooting victim pleads for closure

One year after Jatinder “Michael” Sandhu was gunned down in Surrey, his mother is urging anyone with information to come forward — including the shooter.

Kal also shared a message for the person responsible for her son’s death, which may have been related to a gang conflict in the area.

“Please come forward. You made a mistake, come forward. Do the right thing.”

Michael was visiting with a friend, Sean Pasha, in the evening of July 23 last year. When they returned to Pasha’s home after having coffee, the pair was gunned down in the driveway.

Pasha was struck in the left shoulder by a bullet, while Michael was hit in the arm and in the head.

Pasha’s family, including his sister and her then eight-week-old daughter, were inside the home when the shooting occurred.

Kal said Michael was supposed to visit her nephew that evening. The family had dinner together before Michael met Pasha for coffee.

IHIT confirmed that neither Michael or Pasha had criminal records and may not have been the intended targets of what’s believed was meant to be a targeted shooting. Police did say at the time they believed a relative of Pasha was involved in the current conflict that led to the shooting.

Michael was working full time at a bank, his family confirmed last year, and was working toward earning his real estate licence.

“He was very loving, caring,” Kal said. “Helped to do anything for anyone. Very quiet. Worked hard. He loved all of his family. Just a lovely person.”

Kal says she’s in touch with the lead investigator for the case every two to three weeks, only to learn with each call that there have been no new leads. It’s made moving on from the trauma of losing her son even harder.

“There’s no closure,” she said. “We want to know, just so that maybe we can help save someone else.

“I’ll never get my son back, even if that person is caught. So we’re still suffering. But I think that person, whoever it is, they should be caught and arrested.”

Michael Sandhu is not the only innocent victim to get caught up in gunfire in the Surrey area over the past year.

Just before Michael was killed, the driver of an SUV was mistakenly hit in another intended targeted shooting. Earlier this month, a woman was grazed by a bullet during a gun battle between two groups.

“It’s upsetting, because I know the pain they’re going through. I know how they feel,” Kal said.

A year later, it hasn’t gotten any easier for Kal and the rest of Michael’s family, who must go on without any answers.

“It’s been hard,” she said through tears.

“I don’t think there’s any punishment that would be right. It will never bring him back.”

With files from Jill Bennett