Alberta RCMP says an 18-year-old man from Lloydminster has been charged in the fatal drive-by shooting of 22-year-old Birinder Singh.
On March 21, RCMP say they were able to take 18-year-old Jimmy Gassner from Lloydminster into custody in Canoe Lake, Saskatchewan.
Gassner is believed to be connected to the fatal shooting, according to RCMP, and he has been charged with second-degree murder.
“Despite the laying of these charges, we know that there will be many questions regarding suspects and motivations,” said Staff Sergeant John Brown of the Alberta RCMP Major Crimes Unit. ”Please understand that our ability to answer these questions is limited while our officers continue their important work.“
Mounties say Singh was fatally shot while driving a black 2012 Honda Civic on March 14, after a white or grey dirty pickup truck pulled beside the Civic before speeding off.
Two of Singh’s friends, who were in the car at the time, were wondering if discrimination was behind what they described as a completely random act of violence.
They say Singh was driving in the left lane of the two-lane highway when the pickup truck pulled up next to them, and two men gave them what appeared to be a peace sign with their hands. Thinking nothing of it, they say Singh flashed the sign back.
They say the pickup then slowed down before accelerating to once again come side by side with Singh.
“They put his driver’s side window down, and the person who is sitting on the passenger, he took his gun and he gave us a shot,” one of the friends recounted, saying the shot frightened them. The pickup truck then sped off.
Mounties say they recovered the Grey 2022 Ford F-150 — without providing more details on the vehicle, its recovery, or the investigation — in a brief news release Thursday, March 19.
Mounties say an investigation is ongoing, and more updates will be provided as they become available.
-With files from Kelsey Patterson and James Dunn