Two days after homicide investigators identified the victim of a recent shooting in Coquitlam, B.C., a suspect vehicle has been connected to the case.
Karnvir Singh Garcha, 25, was found suffering from multiple gunshot wounds in the rear alley of a residential building on Foster Avenue on Sunday. Despite efforts to save him, he died from his injuries.
Homicide investigators now say security footage shows a white Kia Niro arriving in the area around 8:30 p.m. on Sunday. It parked in a loading area at the top of the ramping leading to the building at 525 Foster Ave. with its fog lights on and stayed there until 9:19 p.m.
That’s when police say Garcha was dropped off by a ride-sharing company.
“Following the shooting, the suspect returned to the Kia Niro and fled the scene eastbound in the Alley toward Emerson Street,” the RCMP’s Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) said in a Thursday news release.
On Wednesday — three days after the killing — a white Kia Niro was found on fire in Port Moody just before 10 p.m. in a forested area of Murray Street. IHIT is working with the Port Moody Police Department to forensically process the scene.
In December, Garcha and Harkirat Jhutty — another man in his 20s — were the subject of a public warning from the Surrey RCMP and Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit of British Columbia, for their links to gang activities.
At the time, Insp. Bal Hansra of the Surrey RCMP said the pair had been told about “credible threats to their safety” that also posed a risk to anyone near them. Police warned family, friends, associates and others to keep their distance.
“Due to their association with gang activity, the drug trade, and violent acts such as shootings, these individuals have put themselves, their families, and the community at risk,” Hansra wrote in a news release on Dec. 30, 2022.
Police released a photo and a video of the white Kia Niro on Thursday, hoping someone would remember seeing it parked in the loading area.
IHIT is asking anyone who was in the 500-block of Foster Avenue, between North Road and Blue Mountain Street, on July 2 between 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m., or in the 3000-block of Murray Street on July 5 between 9:30 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. to contact them. Investigators are seeking, in particular, dashcam or video footage.
IHIT can be reached at 1-877-551-4448 or ihitinfo@rcmp-grc.gc.ca.
— with files from Amy Judd
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