Indian couple ‘mistakenly targeted’
Police say killings last November were linked to four other incidents in Brampton, Mississauga
An Indian couple fatally shot at their kids’ rental home in Caledon four months ago were victims of mistaken identity in a series of linked shootings, provincial police and Peel Regional Police say.
Speaking at a news conference Thursday, OPP Det. Insp. Brian McDermott said the triple shooting that killed Jagtar Singh Sidhu, 57, and Harbhajan Kaur Sidhu, 55 and left their 28-year-old daughter with lifelong injuries on Nov. 20 was connected to four other shooting incidents — one of them fatal — earlier that month.
“The three victims in the homicide were innocent and mistakenly targeted,” he said. “Two lives were tragically cut short and one individual has suffered life-altering injuries.”
The five shooting incidents occurred between Nov. 7 and 20 in Brampton, Mississauga and Caledon, resulting in the homicide deaths of three “innocent individuals,” said Peel Regional Police Insp. Todd Custance.
Since then, he said investigators have been working alongside the OPP to probe the tragic and “senseless acts” of gun violence.
In the first incident on Nov. 7, two suspects fired shots outside a Brampton home in the area of Cottrelle Boulevard and Thorndale Road. They are believed to have fled in a black Dodge RAM 1500 pickup truck.
On Nov. 11, a similar shooting occurred in Brampton near Lorenville Drive and Elbern Markell Drive. Two suspects wearing black hoodies fired shots at a home and fled in a burgundy Dodge RAM 1500 pickup truck.
Three days later, a suspect returned to the same location and shot at the home from a late model silver Mazda 3 hatchback before driving away.
No injuries were reported in any of the three residential shootings.
On Nov. 15, Jagraj Singh, a 29year-old Brampton resident, was killed in a shooting near Royal Windsor Drive and Winston Churchill Boulevard in Mississauga. Police believe the suspects were travelling in a blue Dodge Challenger.
Five days later, shortly before midnight on Nov. 20, at least one gunman wearing a black hoodie stormed into a rental home on Mayfield Road and shot Jagtar, Harbhajan and their daughter, Jaspreet, as they were getting ready for bed. Their son, Gurdit, was not home at the time.
Jagtar was pronounced dead at the scene, while Harbhajan died in hospital 13 days later. Jaspreet, who was shot 13 times, remains in hospital where she is learning how to sit upright and walk again.
On Thursday, four months after the incident, investigators have now confirmed what the siblings previously told the Star — their parents were innocent victims with no ties to criminal activity.
“They were completely innocent, as was the Peel homicide victim,” McDermott said in a brief interview, referring to the Nov. 15 shooting that killed Jagraj Singh.
He said police have an idea as to who the intended target was and has been in contact with them, but would not disclose details about their identity due to the ongoing investigation.
Jaspreet, the only surviving victim, said the update from police doesn’t make a difference to her family.
“We knew we were innocent. We always knew that.”
She said the confirmation only further clears their name from false rumours circulating in the community.
“Today we’re in this situation. You never know about tomorrow. Any innocent family can be in this situation.”
Jaspreet added that she is grateful for the support she’s received, but noted nothing will bring back her parents.
“It doesn’t matter if it was a mistaken identity, the thing is, my parents are gone.”
Police also revealed the answer to a question that had been haunting the family since the triple shooting: Why had officers visited their home on Nov. 16 to question the couple, who had just arrived from India?
“It was in furtherance of the investigation into Mr. Singh’s death,” Custance said. “We had no information at that time that the occupants were in danger. In a homicide investigation, like any major case, we visit dozens, if not hundreds, of addresses in support of an investigation.”
Police confirmed the suspect vehicle — a black Dodge RAM 2500 pickup truck — used in the Caledon homicide was the same truck found engulfed in flames in a nearby rural community shortly after the shooting.
Investigators said the truck was stolen on Nov. 14 from the area of Mississauga Valley Boulevard and Arista Way in Mississauga. They have released images of an individual believed to be connected to the vehicle theft.
The joint investigation into the series of shootings and homicides — dubbed Project Midnight — is “highly complex and multi-faceted,” Custance said.
Anyone with information about the incidents is asked to contact police at 1-833-941-5570. Anonymous tips can be sent to Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or ontariocrimestoppers.ca.