Hamilton police say they have recovered the two vehicles involved in the April 17 shooting death of 21-year-old international student Harsimrat Randhawa.
Acting Det.-Sgt Daryl Reid told reporters at a Wednesday morning news conference that the white Hyundai Elantra was recovered on Sunday in a residential area in northwestern Toronto. It has since been towed back to Hamilton for forensic analysis, he said.
On Monday, Hamilton police executed a search warrant at a central Hamilton residence and recovered the black Mercedes SUV, Reid said.
“The white Hyundai … was believed to be involved in the shooting as to the target vehicle with shots being fired at them,” Reid said.
Randhawa — who was going into her second year studying occupational physiotherapy at Mohawk College — was struck in the chest by a stray bullet near Upper James Street and South Bend Road. The shots also hit two homes nearby, but no one inside those homes was injured.
According to Reid, “investigators have been narrowing down the pool of people associated with these two vehicles,” adding, “we will leave no stone unturned until we find you.”
Police are encouraging those involved in the shooting to contact a lawyer and turn themselves in.
Meanwhile, Reid said police now know that Randhawa, who had come to Hamilton from India to study, had just left a gym in the upper area of the city when she was shot.
“She had taken a city bus to that location and had been waiting to cross the street. This was when she was struck by a stray bullet,” Reid said.
Harsimrat had zero capability of avoiding what was about to unfold in front of her. She had just stepped off of the city bus, was waiting to cross the street, from my understanding, and everything unfolded so quickly she had no time at all to react.”
Based on video collected by investigators, Reid said there was “a significant amount of traffic” travelling up and down the roadway at the time of the shooting.
“We know from watching that video that there were numerous cars that just passed through at that very moment. Many of those people have come forward and I thank those people for coming forward to assist us,” he said.
“But we know there are more people out there that might have even the smallest piece of information that could help us, and putting all of those little pieces together is what we need to do. So, we continue to encourage those people to come forward.”
On Sunday, dozens of people gathered at a vigil in Hamilton to honour Randhawa.
Hamilton Mayor Andrea Horwath addressed the crowd, calling for stronger measures to curb gun violence.
“These guns have to go,” she said. “We cannot have this kind of violence in our city, in our community. Look at all the people here — they’re saying the same thing.”
She told reporters Randhawa’s killing was “shocking,” and “unacceptable.”
“My heart is broken for her, for her family, for the entire school community … it’s horrifying.”
Horwath said community members are worried about safety in the city following this incident.
“Who should be worried, standing at a bus stop, that they’re gonna lose their lives?” she said.
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Mohawk College’s president, Paul Armstrong, also spoke at the event, acknowledging the pain rippling through the campus community.
“It’s almost an unbelievable feeling,” Armstrong said. “Her faculty, her students, her fellow community members are just shocked and upset and in some ways, worried for their own safety.”
