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Canada: Indian student injured in Toronto shooting dies
Satwinder Singh, 28, was taken off life support at the Hamilton General Hospital. He had sustained grievous injuries in the gun rampage
TORONTO: A young international student from India died in hospital on Saturday, making him the third victim of a series of shootings that occurred in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) on Monday.
Satwinder Singh, 28, was taken off life support at the Hamilton General Hospital. He had sustained grievous injuries in the gun rampage.
In a release on Saturday, Halton Police Service (HRPS) said it “is deeply saddened to report a second male victim involved in Monday’s tragic shooting in Milton has passed away.”
It identified Satwinder Singh, resident of the town of Milton, as the victim and said he “passed away peacefully at the Hamilton General Hospital with his family and friends by his side”.
“This is heartbreaking news for our community which hasn’t even begun to heal from Monday’s traumatic events. I urge everyone to reach out and ask for help if they need it,” said HRPS Chief Stephen Tanner said, in the release.
Earlier, two persons, including a police officer, were killed and three others, including Singh, were reported injured after the shootings at multiple locations in the GTA.
The shooter, identified as 40-year-old Shawn Petrie, was confronted by the police in the town of Hamilton and killed.
Petrie’s motive has yet to be revealed but it may well have been revenge as among the locations he targeted was the MK Auto Repairs where the student worked part-time. The suspect also killed the owner of the shop, Shakeel Ashraf.
Singh, according to the outlet Toronto Star, had completed a diploma programme in global business management at Conestoga College in Kitchener, Ontario. He planned to study further and worked part-time to fund that ambition.
Singh’s family was in the hospital at the time the decision was taken to take him off life support.
The shootings had covered three locations, and triggered an emergency alert across the province of Ontario on Monday afternoon, as police warned of an “active shooter” who was considered “armed and dangerous”.
The first incident was in the GTA township of Mississauga, around 2pm where the alleged shooter killed a police officer, Toronto Police veteran Constable Andrew Hong, and injured another person, who has not been named, at the coffee shop. Peel Police Chief Nishan Duraiappah described the attack upon the 48-year-old Hong as an “ambush”.
The same vehicle was then at the scene of a subsequent shooting, about an hour later at an automobile repairs store in the town of Milton, leaving another person dead and two others injured. The victim was later identified as Ashraf.
Peel Regional Police issued an alert as events unfolded, stating that that “the driver is considered armed and dangerous - if seen call 911 immediately - do not approach”.
Shortly after 4pm, the suspect was killed during an “interaction” with police at a cemetery in the town of Hamilton.
Hamilton Police issued a brief statement that the “situation has been contained and there was no ongoing risk to the public”.
