A GoFundMe page set up for the family of Langley murder victim Arshdeep Singh caused confusion after it appeared without advance notice his family in India, according to IHIT.
“His family, they know nothing about it,” Sgt. Frank Jang, spokesperson for the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team, said Wednesday.
On Jan. 26, shots rang out at the corner of 207th Street and 53A Avenue. Langley RCMP arrived to find Singh and another man both shot in a car. The other man, also in his early 20s, was rushed to hospital and is expected to survive.
Singh’s murder was likely a targeted shooting, and he was known to police, said Jang.
READ MORE: Homicide detectives identify 22-year-old murder victim in Langley shooting
In the last week, a GoFundMe campaign appeared on the popular crowdfunding site, ostensibly to support Singh’s family.
Singh’s parents contacted IHIT after seeing the GoFundMe campaign, and said they had no connection to it.
Black Press Media has been in contact with one of the people who started the campaign, who said they are friends of Singh’s who were just trying to raise money for his family back in India.
The have been in contact with the family now, and are trying to get the campaign back up on the GoFundMe website, after it had earlier been taken down. It had raised about $1,400 before it was taken down, which would have been a significant amount for Singh’s family.
“Now we’re getting backlash,” said one of Singh’s friends, who said that they have been getting threats on Instagram because people believe the campaign is a fraud.
The family of Arshdeep Singh is advising everyone not to donate money to the #GoFundMe page set up in his name. It's believed to be fraudulent.
— IHIT (@HomicideTeam) February 10, 2021
When Jang posted on the IHIT Twitter account about the campaign apparently not being connected to Singh’s family, at least one person responded to insist it was legitimate.
“We’re still trying to get to the bottom of this,” Jang said Wednesday.
Black Press has reached out to IHIT for an update on the GoFundMe’s status.
Singh’s murder was one of several incidents of gunfire around Langley and across the Lower Mainland in recent weeks as the gang war has heated up.
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