Police said the victim of a North Delta shooting on Saturday was a BC Corrections officer.
In a news release issued Sunday, Delta Police named 29-year-old Bikramdeep Randhawa, of Surrey, as the victim. The incident is believed to be “targeted.”
“We’re looking at all possible aspects as to why this crime was committed,” said Insp. Guy Leeson in a news release. “We will examine every potential motive thoroughly. Whether it was a case of mistaken identity, a matter related to his personal life or if there is a possibility the shooting was related to the victim’s occupation.”
Police received reports of shots fired in the parking lot of the Scottsdale Centre mall, located at 7031 Scott Road, at 4:55 p.m. on Saturday.
“Despite the best efforts of Emergency Health Services, unfortunately the victim in this incident did pass away,” Leeson said.
Video posted to Twitter at 5:52 p.m. purporting to show a shooting at the Scottsdale Centre mall shows a person dressed in black and holding what appears to be handgun while running away from a crashed car. The person then jumps into the rear passenger side of an SUV.
Police said that a suspect vehicle involved in the incident was discovered burned in Burnaby later that day.
Shooting at Scottsdale Mall, #northdelta @kbolan @DailyHiveVan @KarmSumal @NEWS1130 pic.twitter.com/84YaSh3Bdf
— ezra (@ezratherealist) May 2, 2021
A second video purportedly of the “aftermath” shows what appears to be a silver-coloured car crashed into a black one near the shopping cart corral.
Aftermath @kbolan pic.twitter.com/hqNqkVkz4W
— ezra (@ezratherealist) May 2, 2021
“This shooting took place in a very public manner, and we are very much aware of the possible risk to innocent bystanders,” Leeson said. “Fortunately it doesn’t appear there was anyone else injured during this incident, but we ask those who might have any information to contact police.”
Police are asking anyone who knew Randhawa, or has information as to why he was targeted, to contact police at 604-946-4411 or to remain anonymous, call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
Delta Police said no arrests have been made and police are not releasing any information about the suspects.
“Our thoughts are with the victim’s family and friends, as they now start to deal with their loss,” said Leeson.
Delta Police has been in communication with BC Corrections and other law enforcement partners about the possible links to other incidents in Metro Vancouver.
However, police said, “at this point police are not able to determine whether this shooting can be linked to the gang conflict.”
The crime scene has since been released, and owners of vehicles that were behind police tape are now able to retrieve their vehicle.
