THE Edmonton Police Service (EPS) on Saturday announced they had arrested two individuals in relation to the shooting death of 20-year-old male security guard Harshandeep Singh in central Edmonton early Friday morning.
On Friday, December 6 at approximately 12:30 a.m., Downtown Branch patrol officers responded to a report of a gunshot inside an apartment building in the area of 106 Street and 107 Avenue. Upon arrival, officers located an unresponsive security guard in a stairwell and immediately conducted first aid. EMS responded, treated and transported him to hospital where he was declared deceased.
Evan Rain, 30, and Judith Saulteaux, 30, were arrested and charged with first degree murder in relation to Harshandeep Singh’s death. Investigators do not believe anyone else was involved in his death and a weapon was recovered during the arrest. An autopsy is scheduled for Monday, December 9.
“The EPS doesn’t typically release the name of a deceased individual unless the death has been confirmed to be a homicide,” said EPS Homicide Staff-Sgt. Rob Bilawey. “However, in this instance, we are releasing his name for an investigative purpose and in an effort to alleviate public safety concerns in relation to Mr. Singh’s unfortunate death.”
According to media accounts from Edmonton on Friday, a resident said that a security guard from her apartment building joined her outside as a fight broke out on the street. One of the men involved in the fight said he had been assaulted and wanted to make a police report. The group followed the security guard inside. The resident’s roommate called her minutes later to tell her that a shot had been fired and the security guard had been injured.
(The VOICE will not show the graphic video of the shooting death of the security guard.)
Homicide Section detectives continue to investigate what led up to the shooting and are asking anyone with information to contact the EPS at 780-423-4567 or #377 from a mobile phone. Anonymous information can also be submitted to Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or online at www.p3tips.com/250.
The Consulate General of India in Vancouver on Sunday said in a tweet: “We are deeply saddened by the tragic death of [Indian] national Shri Harshandeep Singh who was shot dead in Edmonton on 6 Dec. … We will remain in close contact with authorities & provide required assistance to the bereaved family.”
ON Sunday, Tim Uppal, Deputy Leader of the Conservative Party of Canada and MP for Edmonton Mill Woods, said: “It appears that our so-called ‘justice’ system terribly failed Harshandeep Singh – just as it has outrageously failed so many others. Harshandeep Singh’s murder cannot be accepted as just an unfortunate, unavoidable reality in our society. Authorities should answer to Rain’s prior police interactions and potential criminal history, including whether he was out on bail or some other form of release order.”
The Conservative Party noted: “Life wasn’t like this before Justin Trudeau. Since the NDP-Liberal government passed Bill C-75 and Bill C-5, which gave high priority to releasing repeat violent offenders and took away mandatory jail time for certain violent crimes, a crime wave has been unleashed across the country.”
