The two friends who were in the car with Birinder Singh when he was shot dead on the highway south of Edmonton are wondering if discrimination was behind what they are describing as a completely random act of violence.
Singh, 22, was driving on Highway 2 with his friends on Saturday afternoon when police say someone inside a dirty white or grey pickup truck pulled up beside them and fired a gun. Singh was struck – his friends say in the neck – and he died of his injuries.
Those childhood friends, who CityNews has agreed not to identify as they fear for their safety, say this was not a case of road rage and there was no reason for the occupants of the pickup truck to fire a gun.
“Why they are shooting us? Because we did nothing,” one of the friends said. “We didn’t even try to overtake them. We weren’t doing any race, we didn’t do anything. We were just enjoying our own company.
“Nobody knows. Even though we can think (it’s) due to brown skin, if we can say, because on our perspective, this is the only reason, only possibility.
“It’s not road rage, nothing like that. Still, we got shot. So we can say that it’s a discrimination, kind of.”
The men’s account of the shooting is harrowing, describing it as entirely unprovoked.
They say Singh was driving in the left lane of the two-lane highway when the pickup truck pulled up next to them and two men gave them what appeared to be a peace sign with their hands. Thinking nothing of it, they say Singh flashed the sign back.
They say the pickup then slowed down before accelerating to once again come side by side with Singh.
“They put his driver’s side window down, and the person who is sitting on the passenger, he took his gun and he gave us a shot,” one of the friends recounted, saying the shot frightened them. The pickup truck then sped off.
Birinder Singh’s black Civic (left) and a police vehicle at the scene of the shooting on the QEII on March 14, 2026. (CityNews)
“I asked Birinder to slow down. I said, ‘Birinder, please slow down. We don’t know why they are shooting.’ So as soon as I say this, Birinder was unable to… he just hand signed to him like this and this on his neck that he got a shot.”
They say Singh then fell unconscious at the wheel of a vehicle going 100 kilometres per hour, and the friend in the front seat managed to take Singh’s leg off the accelerator.
“Then the vehicle slowed down. So after that, I opened my door, I ran along the car for like two to five seconds, then I opened Birinder’s door and pressed the brake. So this is how we stopped the car.”
The friends say first responders tried saving Singh’s life but were unsuccessful. “We tried very hard to save him, but unfortunately we can’t, as there’s a lot of blood loss.”
Birinder Singh, who was killed in a highway shooting, dreamed of travelling the world and owning a construction company. (Supplied)
Their detailed account to CityNews expands on the little information police have been able to provide about the shooting so far. The RCMP’s major crimes unit is handling the investigation and investigators are trying to determine a motive.
RCMP have put out a callout for dash camera footage of the incident, with the friends saying the highway was extremely busy when the shooting happened.
According to them, investigators already have in their possession the dash cam footage from Singh’s own car – a 2025 Honda Civic.
“Police got the footage, but still they are not updating us. They say it’s a security concern, so they can’t tell us what’s going on,” said one of the friends, who urged any drivers who were on the highway to come forward with video and information.
‘A really sweet guy’: Remembering Birinder Singh
Birinder Singh was soft-spoken, religious, and didn’t like to fight, according to the two friends who knew him from childhood, watched him grow up, changed countries with him, and ultimately were there in his final moments.
“He’s a really sweet guy,” his friend said.
He was adventurous, a foodie, and dreamed of travelling the world. His friends are planning a skydiving trip to honour him.
Singh went to school for business management and dreamed of owning his own construction company one day. That’s the dream that brought him to Canada in the first place – from India’s Punjab region – around three years ago.
Birinder Singh, who was killed in a highway shooting on March 14, 2026, came to Canada from India three years ago and moved to Edmonton five months ago. (Supplied)
The Canadian chapter of his life began in Brampton, Ont. It was his friends who convinced him to move to Edmonton “to fulfil his dreams” — five months ago.
“That’s why he chose to be here with us, because we have been here from last two years. So he came. We discussed. Firstly he agreed to us that he will come to us and do some skill work, so it will be helpful for him in the future to start his own company so he can fulfil his and his parents’ dream.”
His parents in India are grieving the death of their only son, who they had not seen since he left for Canada three years ago, his friends tell CityNews. He was the “only hope of his parents,” they say, and was planning to visit them in December.
“They know us from very long time, our families know each other, so that’s why it’s our responsibility to tell them what exactly happened. So it was very hard for us to tell them their son is no more with us, even though, in his last time we were with him, but his family were not. So they are really broken.
“It’s really tough, like we are not able to hear their screams, it’s really hard to talk with them.”
Birinder Singh, 22, has been identified as the man killed in a shooting on Highway 2 on Saturday afternoon, south of Edmonton. (Supplied)
They add another of Singh’s goals was to buy his parents a brand-new car and explore Canada with them.
An online fundraiser to repatriate Singh’s body back to India has raised more than $25,000.
Losing their childhood friend has left the two men hurt, frustrated – and with many questions.
“We want to know why? Why there is so much hate to our people? Because we are similar to every other human. We do also have right to live, right? Everyone has same. We are working hard to fulfil our dreams, like we are pretty same to everyone.
“If you see another skin guy, it’s not right to shoot him, because every human’s life matters. Everybody is same. Everybody’s life matters. Everybody is here to fulfil their dreams, to build his life. So it really seems unfair.”
—With files from OMNI News
