A 21-year-old man from Squamish, B.C. has been charged following a shooting incident in the Surrey neighbourhood of Newton that injured two people on Dec. 16.
Surrey RCMP responded to reports of gunfire at approximately 6 p.m. on that date in the 12600 block of 67B Avenue.
A woman reported to the police that she and her husband had been shot while walking outside their vehicle. The two victims were taken to the hospital to be treated for their wounds. Officers also discovered that their young child was in a nearby vehicle, who was found unharmed.
“Two suspects, described as adult South Asian men, were last seen driving away in a dark-coloured sedan,” said Surrey Police Services on the incident in a December news release, sent out shortly after the incident. Police have not provided information on the second suspect.
On Wednesday, Jan. 29, Surrey Police announced that Gagandeep Singh Bakshi was in custody as a suspect. Bakshi was arrested two weeks earlier on Jan. 15, nearly a month after the shooting. He was charged on Jan. 16 with one count each of attempted murder, discharging a firearm with intent, and aggravated assault, along with two counts of assault with a weapon.
According to the release, a collaborative Serious Crime Unit between the newly formed Surrey Police Service and the RCMP led the investigation into the shooting, conducting police searches of homes in Squamish, Delta, and Surrey between Jan. 16 and 17.
These charges represent some of the first and highest-profile criminal charges laid by the newly formed Surrey Police Service. Since last November, they have been overseeing one of the largest policing transition projects in Canadian history, as noted in another True North article on a different shooting in the Newton neighbourhood.
Bakshi will stay behind bars until his next hearing set for Feb. 10 in Surrey Provincial Court.
