Hindu temple leader says shots fired at son's home in Surrey, B.C.
RCMP say no one was injured in the Dec. 29 shooting, and it is unclear whether it was targeted
The leader of a Metro VancouverHindu templesayshis son's Surrey, B.C., home was the target of a Wednesday morning shooting.
Satish Kumar, president of Surrey'sLakshmi Narayan Mandirtemple, sayshis son was awakened by a disturbance outside his Newton-area homearound 2 a.m. on Dec. 27, butcouldn't see anything amiss when he looked out the front door.
It wasn't until after Kumar's sonwoke up around 8 a.m. that he saw the apparent bullet holes in his garage door and on the gate to his property about 11 in total, Kumar told CBC News.
"We have no idea what the reason is," Kumar said on Sunday. "It's very scary, very disturbing."
Four glass panels on the home's garage door were shattered and boarded up with wood on Sunday, with at least two apparent bullet holes in the metal frame of the panels visible to a CBC reporter at the scene.
Surrey RCMPsaid Thursday that no one was injured in the shooting on 80Avenue,and they are still trying to determine the motive behind it.
Kumar says neither he nor his son have received threats. He also says neither he nor his son have any relation to the Lower Mainland gang conflict, or involvement in any political or religious disputes.
Surrey and Abbotsford are seeing rising levels of gun violence and South Asian communities,particularly Sikhs, are worried for their safety after the shooting death of Surrey gurdwara president Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June, Kumar said.
"All the communities are very scared about what's going on," he said, noting he and local South Asianleaders are planning a community safety meeting for next weekend.
"This is not only gunshots at my son, this could happen to anybody in the future."
When asked by CBC News on Sunday whether the shooting was believed to be targeted, Surrey RCMP Sgt. Chris De Hart said he did not have that information available and hoped to have an update in the coming days.
2 other shootings in city
Two other shooting occurred in the city on Friday, just two days after the incident at Kumar's son's home.
In the first shooting, officersarrested two menafter they received reports of gunshots near 101Avenueand 156Streetin the Guildford areaaround 2 p.m. PT, according to a Friday afternoon statement from Surrey RCMP.
Around seven hours after the Guildford shooting,RCMPresponded to reports of gunfireon the 7800-block of 167Streetin Fleetwood, shortly before 9:30 p.m. PT on Friday, according to a statement later that evening.
Mounties said no one was injured in either shooting, and told CBC News on Saturday they don't have evidence the two Friday incidents are related to each other.
RCMPsaid Monday that charges had been laid against two men in the Guildford shooting.
Roman Arinder Gill, 24, is facing five charges includingunlawful dischargeof a firearm andassaulting a police officer with a weapon, while 28-year-old Shaun Narinder Gill is charged with flight from police, driving while prohibitedand dangerous operation of a motor vehicle, according to B.C. court records.
Both men are set to appear in Surrey Provincial Court on Jan. 3.
Anyone with information or dashcam footage of the areas around any of the three shootings is asked to contact RCMPat 604-599-0502.
- With files from Joel Ballard and Moira Wyton