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Delta Police identify victim in Saturday’s targeted shooting as 29-year-old corrections officer

DELTA (NEWS 1130) — Police in Delta have confirmed the man killed in Saturday’s brazen daytime shooting near a busy shopping mall is a 29-year-old provincial corrections officer.

Insp. Guy Leeson says their thoughts are with the family and friends of Bikramdeep Randhawa of Surrey “as they now start to deal with their loss.”

Police say they’re still trying to determine a motive for the killing, suggesting they’re looking into the possibility of mistaken identity or possibly connected to his occupation or personal life. Randhawa was not known to police.

Stephanie Smith, president of the union representing correctional officers, says Randhawa’s loss is being deeply felt by his colleagues.

“We are all shocked and devastated at the loss of one of our own. While the loss of any member under any circumstances is a tragedy, the public and violent nature of Bikramdeep’s death make this loss immeasurably worse, especially for the members at Fraser Regional Correctional Centre who counted him as a colleague and a friend,” she writes in a statement.

“We’re asking anyone who knew Mr. Randhawa, or who could have information related to why he was targeted in this manner, to please contact police at 604-946-4411, or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477,” Leeson says.

Police have also confirmed a suspect vehicle involved in the incident was found burned in Burnaby Saturday but no arrests have been made yet.

The mayor of Delta is reassuring the public that his community is safe and he’s confident the Delta Police are “totally on top of it” and regularly update him.

“Our police department is very concerned about just the total ignorance of gang members taking someone’s life in broad daylight at a busy mall. It is happening all over the Lower Mainland,” Mayor George Harvie says.

Delta Police have not been able to determine whether the recent shooting can be linked to the gang conflict.

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Just last month, a 31-year-old Harpreet Singh Dhaliwal was shot outside Vancouver’s Cardero’s restaurant near Coal Harbour Quay and Cardero Street. He was pronounced dead on the scene. A week later, 51-year-year old Francois Joseph Gauthier was charged with one count of first-degree murder and one count of possession of a firearm.

Harvie says regional strategies to help cut down on shootings like these will be discussed at a police board meeting in two weeks’ time.

“I hope regionally, we can get together to stop this and ensure that the public isn’t at danger,” he adds.

In the meantime, Harvie says his community is safe and that the police are hard at work.

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