Winnipeg drive-by shooting connected with extortion, shootings in Alberta: Edmonton police

A drive-by shooting in northwest Winnipeg last Christmas Eve is connected with a rash of extortion in‐ cidents and two other shootings targeting home builders in the Edmonton area, according to police in that city.

Canada-wide warrants have been issued for a man wanted in the Dec. 24, 2023, shooting in Winnipeg and two others in Alberta, Ed‐ monton Police Service Staff Sgt. Eric Stewart said during a media conference on Tues‐ day.

"They're purposely target‐ ing master bedrooms where people are occupied, sleep‐ ing.… Kids are in these resi‐ dences," Stewart said during an update on what police have dubbed Project Gaslight - a probe into incidents tar‐ geting South Asian home builders in Edmonton.

"They don't know who's inside these residences when they start firing rounds at these houses. Very scary, very brazen and very care‐ less."

Police allege the shoot‐ ings have been carried out by a group in Edmonton who are being directed by some‐ one in India.

"There is an individual or‐ chestrating and directing young men in our city to car‐ ry out these acts," Stewart said.

"And what I can say is that, in my opinion, they're being exploited to carry out these acts and someone who is not in this country is bene‐ fiting from that."

Surveillance video cap‐ tured on Dec. 24 appears to show the shooting in Win‐ nipeg.

At around 8:45 p.m, a black SUV is seen approach‐ ing a home in the city's northwest, and eight shots can be heard in the video be‐ fore the SUV drives away.

Edmonton police said the home was occupied by sever‐ al family members. No one was injured, but one bullet narrowly missed a person in‐ side and passed through a wall into an adjacent room, Edmonton police say.

Officers in Edmonton said the black SUV had no front li‐ cence plate, and they're look‐ ing for more information about the vehicle.

They say the shooting was in the area of Winnipeg's Meadows West and Maples neighbourhoods, but de‐ clined to provide a more ex‐ act location.

WATCH | Police release surveillance footage of Winnipeg shooting:

Winnipeg police referred all requests for comment to police in Edmonton. Officers in Winnipeg have not respon‐ ded to a question from CBC about why they did not previ‐ ously notify the public about the drive-by shooting in Win‐ nipeg.

Stewart said the shooting in Winnipeg followed a simi‐ lar shooting in Edmonton in the early morning hours of Dec. 21, 2023, in the city's Cy

Becker neighbourhood.

Shots were fired at an up‐ stairs bedroom window of a home where the homeown‐ ers were sleeping, according to Edmonton police. Four other people, including two children, were also sleeping in the home at the time of the shooting.

In both the Edmonton and Winnipeg shootings, Edmon‐ ton police said the home‐ owner was extorted for mon‐ ey and threatened prior to the shooting.

Stewart said the owner of the Winnipeg home that was shot at has connections to a home builder in Edmonton.

Edmonton police said there was a third incident in the early morning hours of Dec. 29, 2023, when shots were fired at a home in Sher‐ wood Park, just east of Ed‐ monton. No one was in the home at the time, but a bullet went through a win‐ dow into a children's play‐ room and struck a toybox.

The homeowner wasn't threatened or extorted be‐ forehand in that case, police said.

"We believe this shooting was directed at the wrong house," Stewart said.

Warrants out for sus‐ pect now believed to be India

Arjun Sahnan, 19, is now wanted on Canada-wide war‐ rants by Edmonton police for all three shootings, including the one in Winnipeg, Stewart said.

"After the Edmonton shooting, Sahnan allegedly booked a flight to India, com‐ mitted the Winnipeg and Sherwood Park shootings, and then fled the country," Stewart said. "As far as we know, he is now in India."

Sahnan was previously ar‐ rested on five firearms pos‐ session charges during a ve‐ hicle stop on Dec. 30, after the three shooting incidents, but he was released, Stewart said.

"I strongly urge him to come back to Canada to face his charges," Stewart said. "Regardless of whether he complies, we know who he is, and fleeing to another coun‐ try will not stop us from at‐ tempting to locate him."

Edmonton police are also looking for tips regarding a second suspect connected with the Winnipeg shooting. They released an image from a surveillance video showing that person.