By CBC News
Police have identified the 56-year-old man shot in Richmond, B.C., Saturday night as a prominent developer, Amarjit Singh Sandhu.
Sandhu died in hospital after the parking lot shooting left his truck riddled with bullets. Police say he was targeted.
RCMP were called to the 11300 block of Steveston Highway shortly after 6 p.m. PT Saturday after reports that a man was shot in a Tim Hortons parking lot near the Ironwood Plaza.
Police found a man suffering from gunshot wounds, and reported several bullet holes in the driver’s side door of a black pickup truck.
Targeted shooting
The attack is targeted, police said in a written release on Sunday.
“The act of homicide is one that is selfish and cold,” said Staff Sgt. Jennifer Pound of the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT)
“There is an extra element of concern when one chooses to commit this crime in such a bold and brazen manner in a very public setting.”
No one else was injured.
The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) has taken over the investigation from Richmond RCMP.
Sandhu is listed as president of Sandhill Developments Ltd, with main offices located across from where he was shot.
He and the company are named in more than 80 civil lawsuits in B.C. dating back to the 1990s.
In a recent case, Sandhu took the Khalsa Diwan Society to court. His actions led to an election being called for leaders at the Ross Street Sikh temple in Vancouver, scheduled for September.
An official with the party opposed to changes Sandhu was seeking at the temple believes the shooting is unrelated.
“To my knowledge just for the sake of an election nobody would take such a big risk,” said Ranjit Hayer with the Khalsa Diwan Society.
People at the temple registering to vote in the elections say that Sandhu was at the temple before he went to Richmond and was gunned down.
“He came, he was talking nice, you know,” said Joginder Singh Sunner also with the Khalsa Diwan Society. “Then all of the sudden we heard the news that he got shot. That’s terrible news. We have … sympathy for the family.”
Police are urging anyone with information about the death to contact them.
