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A popular member of the Edmonton South Asian community has been identified as one of the victims in Monday’s daytime shooting at a construction site in southeast Edmonton that left two men dead and one man with serious life-threatening injuries.
A popular member of the Edmonton South Asian community has been identified as one of the victims in Monday’s daytime shooting at a construction site in southeast Edmonton that left two men dead and one man with serious life-threatening injuries.
Former city councillor Mohinder Banga confirmed to Postmedia on Tuesday morning that Gill Builders owner Buta Singh Gill was one of the victims of Monday’s brazen daytime shooting.
“Mr. Gill was such a nice person; he was willing and ready to help anybody who needed help at any time. He was heavily involved in the community and involved in the Sikh temple,” said Banga.
“It’s a huge loss for the community. This is shocking to say the least. It’s unfathomable. A good person has been taken from their family and friends.“
City police said at approximately 12 p.m. on Monday they were dispatched to a report of a shooting in the area of Cavanagh Boulevard SW and Cherniak Way SW. Upon arrival, three injured men were located. Emergency crews determined two men, a 49-year-old man and a 57-year-old man were deceased and a 51-year-old man was seriously injured.
Paramedics transported the surviving male to hospital with serious life-threatening injuries.
EPS haven’t released many details of the incident, but Banga does not believe it’s linked to a series of extortion-related cases targeting home builders and the South Asian community that have made headlines in recent months.
In February, city police held a town hall meeting to address a series of extortion cases that have hit Edmonton’s South Asian community hard with several shooting and arson occurrences targeting home builders that have resulted in houses going up in flames and gun violence after business owners receive WhatsApp messages demanding large amounts of money.
Murder-suicide
Banga said it’s his understanding the shooter came to the construction site and got into an altercation with the 51-year-old man, who Banga says was working as an engineer on the project. The shooter shot the man, and then Gill tried to intervene and that’s when the shooter shot Gill several times before turning the gun on himself.
“For some reason, the man ended up shooting the engineer, and then Mr. Gill tried to go towards the man and ask him what he was doing, and he got shot several times. Then the man with the gun shot himself in the head apparently,” said Banga.
“I do believe the man worked for Mr. Gill, whether he currently did, or in the past, and I don’t know if there was a dispute or not, I’m not sure. I know the police are early in their investigation, so we will find out more then.”
A large group from the South Asian community gathered around the scene on Monday to offer support after the news shook their community.
Banga said this incident has deeply impacted their community and it will no doubt raise concerns with this level of violence taking place – in broad daylight.
“We’re all concerned about the violence in our community,” said Banga.
“Mr Gill was a prominent and helpful leader in our community, and people were there to show their support. They’re all shook… what could’ve gone wrong?”
The autopsies in this case are expected to be finished in the next couple of days. If EPS confirms Gill’s death as a homicide, it will be the city’s 10th homicide of 2024.
Shootings down in March
Meanwhile, city police said in a Tuesday morning release that shootings were down 33 per cent in the month of March compared to this time last year.
EPS investigated 12 shooting occurrences last month. Of those 12, nine are believed to be targeted, and all nine resulted in injuries.
There is a concern for public safety, as 10 of the 12 shooting occurrences had the potential for innocent bystanders to be harmed.
Police say there were two deaths as a result of the shooting occurrences.
Through the first quarter of the year, shootings are down 22 per cent, according to police over that same time frame last year.
“Since November of last year, we have added a second Gang Suppression Team, and in February of this year, we’ve added a second team in our Firearm Investigations Unit,” said staff sgt. Eric Stewart of the EPS gangs and guns section of the organized crime branch in a release.
“Obviously these shooting numbers can fluctuate month to month, but it’s encouraging to see our numbers trending downwards as we add these resources, and we hope to see that continue.”
Police seized 66 firearms in March, and 205 overall in 2024.
