Delta’s police chief said Tuesday they are investigating if the shooting death of 29-year-old Bikramdeep Randhawa was gang-related.
“We’re looking at all the ties of gang-related, absolutely,” Chief Neil Dubord said Tuesday at a media briefing.
“It has all the markings of gang-related, meaning the burned-out car and how it was carried out, but certainly we can’t confirm that at this point in time, but we are investigating whether it is gang-related.”
They know there was a driver and the shooter, so there were at least two people involved, Dubord said.
Randhawa was a corrections officer and worked at Fraser Regional Correctional Centre since 2016, B.C. Corrections confirmed Monday.
He was shot dead just before 5 p.m. Saturday outside a shopping centre near 72nd Avenue and Scott Road.
A torched vehicle found in Burnaby that resembled a getaway vehicle seen in bystander video from the crime scene was, in fact, related to the shooting, police confirmed Sunday.
Randhawa was not known to police, and investigators are still working to determine a motive — including whether the killing was a case of mistaken identity, or potentially related to his job.
Dubord said it was “concerning” that Randhawa was a corrections officer but they don’t know if his death was connected to his job.
There was a lot of chaos and confusion when the shooting took place Saturday, Dubord said, but he is proud of the way the department reacted.
The first call came in at 4:55 p.m. and the first constable arrived on the scene at 5 p.m., Dubord confirmed.
Other officers then poured into the area and Surrey RCMP officers arrived to help at 5:07 p.m.
Dubord said there were close to 200 people in the parking lot at the time of the shooting and officers didn’t know if a suspect was still in the crowd when they arrived on the scene.
They are now asking the public to submit any photos or videos from the scene on Saturday and those can be uploaded on the Delta police website.
City officials and the police department want to ensure Delta residents feel safe following this brazen daylight shooting.
Dubord said more officers will be patrolling the city and they are working with police departments across the Lower Mainland.
“We know that there is that anxiety around people that they should be able to go shopping, get their groceries, do their chores, do whatever they need to do and feel safe without the risk of there being a shooting nearby,” Dubord added.
“That seems ridiculous in our world doesn’t it?”