GRAPHIC WARNING: This article contains details that readers may find disturbing.
Jasjeet Kaur remembers being in a deep sleep just hours after the call in 2023, when she says she was shaken by bangs, screams and gunshots in her southeast Edmonton home.
“All of a sudden there was a noise. Someone broke into the house. They just broke down the door. We were scared and devastated,” she told CTV News Edmonton on Thursday.
Jasjeet then says her husband Barinder Singh, the man the family calls “Dad”, left their bedroom to see what was going on.
“They randomly started shooting. It was like there were gunshots. I heard a little, but I don’t know how many,” Jasjit recalled.
She was screaming in the bedroom for help. When all was quiet, she went to see if Singh was all right.
“He was lying on the floor in a pool of blood. I tried to shake him, I just asked him to wake up,” she said.
At that point, she remembers looking up and seeing her youngest daughter also covered in blood.
“She stood before me like a statue. She just told me… in my language… “I have a wound too. I got a bullet shot,” Jasjit said.
“She didn’t scream. When she got the shot, she didn’t even scream. She was frozen.”
‘WE’RE STILL WORKING TO DETERMINE A MOTIVE’
Police officers were called to the home near 16A Avenue and 38 Street around 2:45 a.m.
Both Singh and his daughter Tavneet Kaur were rushed to hospital where he died. An autopsy confirmed he was killed by gunshots.
EPS officers are investigating the death of a man early on New Year’s Day in west Edmonton. (Sean McClune/CTV News Edmonton) Homicide detectives are “continuing to pursue several leads related to this incident and are still working to determine a motive,” a spokesperson for the Edmonton Police Service said Thursday.
EPS did not provide further information on the case.
A burned white 2012 Dodge Ram truck found near 24 Street and 14 Avenue later that day is believed to be connected.
The family insists it must be a random attack because they have no enemies in Canada or India, where they recently moved from.
“I NEED THE ANSWER, WHY?”
“We live simple lives with simple jobs,” Jasjeet said.
A shot hit her daughter in the shoulder.
“One of the nerves is damaged. Three of my fingers don’t work. My ribs are broken,” Tavnit explained.
The eldest daughter was also at home. She hid in a closet with the family dog.
“I went out and quietly asked, ‘Is anybody alive?’ That was my first line, I said, ‘Is anybody there?'” Prabhleen Kaur said.
“It just happened as a game. It’s like you find people in the house, kill them and just leave without taking anything.”
Jasjeet says Singh was a hard worker and had a small group of friends. He always insisted on feeding his friends when they came over.
Jasjeet Kaur and her husband Barinder Singh (Credit: Jasjeet Kaur.) He didn’t even want to speed in his car, she said, and often told his girls to walk away from any conflict they encountered.
She can’t think of anyone who would want to hurt him or their family.
“I can never in my life expect something like this to happen to my family. And not in a country like this. We considered Canada a very safe country,” Jasjit said.
Tawnit said that although she was shot, she could not remember what happened that night and did not see who shot her. She said she may have gotten out of bed to go to the bathroom at the time.
“He was a great person. He cooked for me. He loved to cook,” she said through tears.
“I need the answer to why? And obviously that why will not be justified at all.”
With files from Amanda Anderson of CTV News Edmonton
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