Harsimrat Randhawa, a 21-year-old Mohawk College student from India, was an innocent bystander killed when occupants of a vehicle shot at another, police say
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The Canadian Press
Sharif Hassan
Published Apr 21, 2025
Last updated 1day ago
2 minute read
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Harsimrat Randhawa came to Canada two years ago in search of a better life, her family said, but it was cut short by a stray bullet in Hamilton.
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The 21-year-old from India, who studied at Mohawk College, was shot dead while waiting for a bus last week. Police said she was an innocent bystander when shots were fired from a vehicle.
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Her cousin Balraj Singh said Randhawa wanted to open her own physiotherapy clinic after graduating from college, but her dreams will never come true.
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Singh said Randhawa’s parents in India are devastated.
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“They will not be able to come here because they are in very bad condition now,” Singh said in an interview from Brampton, Ont., on Monday.
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“They are not even able to eat and sleep.”
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Hamilton police have said that Randhawa was shot in the chest when the occupants of one vehicle shot at another while she was waiting at a bus stop Thursday evening. She died later that night in the hospital.
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The next morning, Singh said police contacted a relative whose address was listed on Randhawa’s driver’s licence. That relative then contacted her parents back home, he said.
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“It was very disturbing,” Singh said of the call.
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She was absolutely happy in Canada
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The shooting happened in the area of Upper James Street and South Bend Road and police say bullets also flew through a window of a nearby home, but no one inside was injured.
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Police said Randhawa was on her way to work when she was shot. She worked at a local McDonald’s, usually on weekends, Singh said.
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He described Randhawa as a quiet and introverted person who was “brilliant” in her studies.
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“She was absolutely happy in Canada,” he said, adding that her relatives here are also ”feeling absolutely terrible.”
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Randhawa’s death triggered an outpouring of grief and sympathy from local officials, Mohawk College and members of the Indian community across Canada. Dozens of people attended a vigil in her honour outside Hamilton City Hall on Sunday afternoon.
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Chintan Darji, a Mohawk College graduate who organized the event, said he was “heartbroken” by her death and worried about rising crime and gun violence in Hamilton.
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As the investigation into the shooting continues, police are asking anyone with information to come forward.
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Randhawa’s family in India’s Punjab state will receive her body this week, Singh said.
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“Tomorrow we’re going to see her (one) last time and then we will finish the paperwork to send the body back home.”
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