A suspect — 23-year-old Yusuf Kontos — arrested in Ontario has now been charged in the 2022 Surrey homicide of Juvraj Jabal, 24, of Surrey.
On February 8, 2022, Surrey RCMP responded to a report of a shooting in the area of 168 Street and 104 Avenue. Officers located two victims suffering from gunshot wounds inside a vehicle.
A 20-year-old woman, identified as Jasmine Lindstrom, and a 24-year-old man, later identified as Jabal, were found with serious injuries and taken to hospital for emergency care. While Lindstrom survived the shooting, Jabal later succumbed to his injuries in hospital.
The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) took conduct of the investigation and continued to work closely with the Surrey RCMP, the Integrated Forensic Identification Section and the BC Coroners Service.
Through extensive video canvassing, it was determined that the shooting had occurred in the 10200-block of 170a Street, Surrey, in close proximity to an elementary school.
IHIT investigators identified Kontos as a suspect in the homicide. Kontos, an Ontario resident, was believed to be staying in Delta at the time of the homicide.
On January 23, 2024, Kontos was arrested in Richmond Hill, Ontario, and was subsequently charged with one count of first-degree murder for the homicide of Jabal and one count of attempted murder in relation to Lindstrom.
“This was a two-year long investigation, in which we utilized every tool at our disposal to locate Kontos,” said IHIT Sgt. Timothy Pierotti on Thursday. “IHIT will continue to be relentless when it comes to bringing those responsible for these senseless homicides to justice. We’re thankful as always for our partners at the Surrey RCMP Detachment and the South Simcoe Police Service for their ongoing support during this investigation.”
Back in 2022, The VOICE had reported that it had confirmed from police sources that the victim, Jabal, had connections to the Brothers Keepers.
The VOICE also reported at the time: “At this stage, it is not known if this could be retaliation for the shooting death of Indian gangster Jimi Sandhu at a hotel in Rawai in Phuket, Thailand, last week … Sandhu had been deported from Canada to India.
“Here in B.C., police sources had confirmed to The VOICE that Sandhu still had connections here and was aligned with the UN Gang that is in conflict with the Brothers Keepers.
“They feared that could trigger some kind of retaliation, so the CFSEU-BC was striving to ensure all intelligence was shared with other agencies in order to enable strategies to mitigate any violence.”
