Woman, 21, shot dead in Hamilton was innocent bystander: Cops
'The city has a responsibility to do better,' Police Chief Frank Bergen said
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Hamilton Police Chief Frank Bergen says the city “has a responsibility to do better” after an innocent female bystander was killed by a stray bullet Thursday night.
“It’s extremely unsettling for a community (to) have people who feel that they can just carelessly, recklessly pick up a gun and then start shooting,” Bergen said at a Friday afternoon press conference.
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“(The) word brazen is absolutely accurate. This is not acceptable. The city has a responsibility to do better. This is an important time to speak up and to be heard that gun violence is not acceptable in our community.”
Police identified the victim as 21-year-old Harsimrat Randhawa of India, who was studying at Mohawk College.
Cops say the shooting happened at 7:30 p.m. at Upper James St. and South Bend Rd. while Randhawa was waiting alone at the southeast corner of that intersection for a bus to go to work.
“She was just standing there waiting for the city bus to come,” said Acting Det. Sgt. Daryl Reid.
When officers arrived they found Randhawa with a gunshot wound to the chest. She was taken to the hospital where she was pronounced dead.
“Her direct family is in India but she does have extended family in the GTA,” said Reid.
“We’ve been in contact with them (since Thursday) night and they’re helping us communicate back and forth to India as well.”
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Cops said, after reviewing video, the passenger of a black Mercedes SUV fired “multiple shots” at the occupants of a white sedan, the latter which fled northbound on Upper James St. while the Mercedes travelled westbound on South Bend Rd.
“There were at least two people in both vehicles but beyond that I don’t have enough information yet,” said Reid.
“We take gun violence so seriously and we hope our community comes forward and helps us solve these crimes. We can’t have people going around shooting at 7:30 anywhere in the city. When you watch some of the video from this area, there is a large number of cars going up and down Upper James so I’m always concerned when a single bullet is shot in the city.”
Police said shots also entered the rear window of a residence on Allenby Ave. where the occupants were watching TV a few feet away. Fortunately, no one was injured in the home.
“They’re extremely fortunate,” said Reid. “If that bullet had’ve been one or two feet to the right, it would have been potentially a different story. And it did travel a long way. That street is one street away so it went to the back window of that house. So it’s just a reflection of what happens when you pull a trigger on a gun and what could be at risk to the public.”
Investigators are asking anyone with dashcam or security camera footage between 7:15 p.m. and 7:45 p.m. near Upper James St. and South Bend Rd. to contact Sgt. Alex Buck at 905-546-4123.
Information can also be provided anonymously by calling Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or online at crimestoppershamilton.com.
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