Birinder Singh was driving down the highway, hoping to see Alberta’s Rocky Mountains for the first time, when a bullet from a passing vehicle ended his life. 

The 22-year-old international student from India died last Saturday on a highway south of Edmonton, moments after RCMP say he was struck by a gunshot fired from a passing pick-up truck. 

A friend of Singh’s, who was in the vehicle with him, said he can’t make sense of the crime. CBC News has agreed to protect the man’s identity due to concerns about his safety, as police have not yet made any arrests in the case. 

The loss of his friend — whom he knew for 15 years, since their shared childhood in Punjab — has left him terrified to leave the house, or drive down the street.

“We feel really unsafe right now. Every time we go out, we just keep looking at the mirrors again and again,” the man told CBC News Friday. 

“We used to hear back home that Canada is really safe, but I think it is not.”

The shooting happened near Leduc, Alta., just south of Edmonton, shortly before 3 p.m. Saturday. Police said a grey pick-up truck approached the Honda Civic Singh was driving. Someone in the truck opened fire, then the vehicle sped away. 

Police haven’t arrested anyone yet in connection to the case, and they haven’t named any suspects publicly. But police said Thursday they found the suspect truck, a Ford F-150.

RCMP say motivations for the shooting remain unclear. All motives are being explored, but so far, no evidence suggests the killing was targeted.

Two of Singh’s childhood friends were inside the car when he was shot.

The friend who spoke to CBC said he reconnected with Singh in Canada, after Singh completed a business degree in Ontario and relocated to Alberta a few months ago. 

The two shared an apartment together with friends in Edmonton. 

Singh, a devout Amritdhari Sikh, had come to Canada from India as an international student three years ago at Conestoga College in Kitchener, Ont. He had been working construction, doing siding work, but hoped to one day start his own business. 

On a rare day off from work, Singh decided to organize a road trip to the Rocky Mountains for a day of sightseeing in Banff, in southwestern Alberta.

The trio were only a few minutes south of Edmonton’s city limits, when a passing pick-up truck caught their attention on the highway.

Singh’s friend said two men in a passing pick-up truck gestured at them through the window.

“We thought they were just a simple wave hello … so then we waved back at them,” he said.  

“But we didn’t know they would do this.” 

According to Singh’s friend, the truck accelerated, then abruptly slowed down to pull alongside them again. 

That’s when the back passenger side window of Singh’s vehicle shattered as a bullet pierced the glass.

According to his friend, Singh was struck through the neck. Bleeding and unable to speak, he pulled over to the shoulder with help from his friends.

Paramedics arrived quickly, but the damage was too severe.

Singh died in his friend’s arms.

A question of hate

The World Sikh Organization of Canada , which promotes and protects the rights of Sikhs in Canada, has formally urged Edmonton police to investigate Singh’s killing as a possible hate crime.

Singh’s friend agrees. 

The men in the other vehicle, he said, were strangers and he wonders if the crime was motivated by discrimination against South Asian people.

“We don’t have any previous fights or any conflicts with other people,” he said.  “We don’t know why.”

The man said he is struggling to come to terms with a crime that feels senseless, and the loss of a friend who had been a constant throughout his life.

He’s even more shaken after reading racist and discriminatory messages and comments online about his friend’s death. 

“I want to ask people, ‘Why do they hate us so much? Are we not the same as other people?'” he said.

“It’s not right.” 

‘Silent without him’ 

The man is hoping for justice for his friend, as preparations are made to send his body home to his parents in India. He said they’re still shocked about their only son’s violent and sudden death.

He described Singh as a good friend, a young man of few words who often kept to himself, and a hard-worker who was hoping to build a future in Canada. 

“He used to enjoy his own company, but when he was around us, he was a really funny guy,” he said.

“Now, our house is totally silent without him.”