For the second time in less than a month, a Surrey café owned by Indian entertainment star Kapil Sharma has become the target of gunfire.
There are at least six bullet holes in the damaged and destroyed windows of Kap’s Café — named for its owner and prominent Indian comedian and television host — on 85 Avenue and Scott Road Thursday morning.
The Surrey Police Service (SPS) says officers were called to the scene around 4:40 a.m.
Bob Singh lives in the area and called the 1130 NewsRadio shortly after the shots rang out.
“I saw it from my patio,” he said.
“I heard shots fired, like five or six shots and then the cops came.”
The violence woke up Michelle Gaucher, who also called.
“We were woken up to eight gunshots — it was not fireworks. And then I got up with the dogs and I could hear sirens in the area. It was the same distance away from where that Kap’s Café was shot up a couple of weeks ago. When I drove by, it’s closed off for about a block and there are emergency vehicles there.”
No one was arrested following a shooting at the business in early July, only days after it first opened. The bullets rang out while some staff members were inside, but no one was hurt.
Police confirmed that staff were inside once again during Thursday’s shooting, but were not injured.
The motive for that shooting was not clear.
The shootings come at a time of heightened focus on the South Asian community in Surrey, following an increase in extortion threats facing some businesses and people.
The SPS says its Frontline Investigative Support team has taken over the investigation.
“Anyone with information about this incident or who may have been in the area at the time and has dashcam footage is asked to contact the SPS non-emergency line at 604-599-0502 and quote file number 25-66351 (SP) or contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or www.solvecrime.ca.”
—With files from Mike Lloyd