The Edmonton Police Service has released a photo of an SUV, as shown in this handout image, as well as surveillance video of two suspects in last week's fatal shootings of a gang member and his 11-year-old son while they were parked outside a fast-food restaurant. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Edmonton Police Service
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EDMONTON – The Edmonton Police Service has released a photo of an SUV and surveillance video of two suspects in last week’s fatal shootings of a gang member and his 11-year-old son, who were gunned down while parked outside a fast-food restaurant.
Staff Sgt. Rob Bilawey with the EPS Homicide Section says in a news release that they hope sharing the images might help someone recall seeing the black BMW SUV or the suspects before or after Thursday’s shooting.
Police have identified the father as 41-year-old Harpreet Uppal and say he was a high-level gang member involved in the drug trade, but they have not identified the boy.
Police say they were told the suspects arrived in a black BMW SUV, exited their vehicle, ran towards Uppal’s white SUV, fired a weapon and fled the scene.
They’ve said that another boy who was with Uppal’s son and was around the same age was also in the car but escaped without physical injuries.
Police have been investigating a possible link between the shooting and a burned 2012 BMW X6 found on a road nearby, but said in Sunday’s news release that they’re still working to determine if it’s the same vehicle from the crime scene.
“Sometimes a seemingly insignificant detail can be immensely helpful to our investigation, and we encourage anyone with information they believe may be related to this shooting to call us,” Bilawey said in the news release.
No one was found inside the burned vehicle and no injuries from the fire have been reported, police said.
Autopsies have been scheduled for Monday and Tuesday.
Acting Supt. Colin Derksen told reporters Friday that the boy was not caught in the line of fire but deliberately killed. He said that he and the other boy had just gone inside an A&W, which shares space with a Petro-Canada gas station, before the shooting.
Police have said Uppal was having dinner with his family in a restaurant two years ago when a man walked up to a window by his table and shot through the glass. He was wounded, but nobody else was injured.
A man was charged in that case but those charges were stayed last month, and the man’s lawyer said in a statement that his client wasn’t involved in last week’s shooting and has been out of the province since the end of October.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2023
