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An 18-year-old man has been charged with second-degree murder in a deadly daytime shooting on a highway south of Edmonton.
In a news release Tuesday, RCMP said Jimmy Gassner has been charged in the killing of Birinder Singh, an international student from India, who was fatally shot on March 14.
Gassner — a resident of Lloydminster — was arrested on Saturday near Canoe Lake, Sask., RCMP said.
Gassner is being transported to Alberta where he will remain in custody as he waits for his first court date to be set, police said.
The circumstances of the killing — Singh was a devout Amritdhari Sikh — have prompted calls for police to investigate it as a potential hate crime. RCMP declined to provide more details on a potential motive.
“Despite the laying of these charges, we know that there will be many questions regarding suspects and motivations,“ Staff Sgt. John Brown of the Alberta RCMP Major Crimes Unit said in the statement.
“Please understand that our ability to answer these questions is limited while our officers continue their important work.”
Singh was driving down Highway 2 south of Edmonton when he was struck by a gunshot fired from a passing pickup truck, near Leduc, Alta., shortly before 3 p.m. MT.
Police said the grey pickup approached the Honda Civic Singh was driving. Someone in the truck opened fire, then the vehicle sped away.
Singh died of his injuries.
A friend who was in the car and watched Singh die on the highway, has called on the RCMP to investigate the shooting as a hate crime.
The man, who spoke with CBC News on condition of confidentiality, characterized the shooting as unprovoked and said Singh was a kind, hard worker who had no conflict with anyone.
The World Sikh Organization of Canada, which promotes and protects the rights of Sikhs in Canada, has also urged the RCMP to explore discrimination as a possible motive, saying the killing happened amid a rise in anti-Sikh hate across Canada.
Singh came to Canada 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.
Fundraising efforts are underway to return his body to India.
