Surrey RCMP investigate overnight shooting at Sikh activist's house

Police are investigating an overnight shooting at a South Surrey home that local community members say belongsto a prominent Sikh activist.

Surrey RCMPsay they first responded to reports of gunshots just after 1:20 a.m. PT Thursday at a home located near the 2800 block of 154 Street.

A spokesperson for the B.C. Gurdwaras Councilsaid the home belongsto Simranjeet Singh, who was a friend of slain pro-Khalistan activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

Cpl. Sarbjit Sanghasaidofficers stayed in the area and spoke to neighbours and witnesses, and are currently reviewing CCTV footage to find out more about the shooting. No one was injured.

A CBC News reporter who went to the home on Thursday afternoon found a car that had been heavily damaged by gunfire, along with multiple bullet holes in the house itself.

Sangha did not confirm how many shots were fired into the house, and said police believethe incident was isolated in nature.

"The investigation is in, still, very early stages so the motive of this shooting has not been determined as ofthis time," she said.

WATCH | Early morning shooting leaves Surrey family shaken:

South Surrey family shaken as police investigate shooting at their home

7 months ago

Duration 2:18

According to Surrey RCMP, the shooting happened just before 1:30 a.m. on Thursday. No injuries were reported, but as Janella Hamilton tells us, a spokesperson for the family living in the home says they are left shaken by the incident.

Gurdwara spokesperson alleges Indian connection

Moninder Singh, the spokesperson for the B.C. GurdwarasCouncil, said community members believe homeowner Simranjeet Singh's connection with Hardeep Singh Nijjar might have played a part in theshooting.

Nijjar was a loud voice for the Khalistani cause, a separatist movement that seeks to create a Sikh majority state in parts of northern India.

He was killed last year in a shooting in Surrey that the federal government believeswas carried out by agents of the Indian government. For its part, the government of India has denied any role in Nijjar's death.

Moninder Singh said the early Thursday shootingat Simranjeet's house came a few days after he helped organize a pro-Khalistan protest at the Indian consulate in Vancouver on Jan. 26.

"[Simranjeet]feels like this is the Indian state, or their actors, that are playing their part here to kind of scare them off from ... the activism work that he's doing," he said.

Moninder added that the "brazen middle of the night" attack nearly claimed the life of Simranjeet's six-year-old child.

"I think it's just by the grace of God here that people made it out safely," he said.

He added that Simranjeethad been in touch with RCMPbefore the shooting to report being followed after protests and fears for his life. He also saidthe shooting would not deter Simranjeet's activism for a separate Sikh state.

Sangha said that due to privacy reasonsshe could not confirm if the victim had been in touch with investigators prior to the Thursdayshooting.

Community member Grant Christy said he has lived in the area for 25 yearsand it had generally been very quiet up until Thursday morning.

"It was about 1:30 in the morning, but definitely woke up to, I think fiveor sixgunshots. That's what we heard," he said. "You look out your window to see what happened, but it's all quiet until a bunch of police showed up, you know, 15 minutes later."

Anyone with more information on the shooting, including dashcam or CCTV footage, is asked to call police at 604-599-0502 and quote file number 2024-15076.