Police have made an arrest in the 2011 murder of a 21-year-old South Vancouver man, and investigators are still looking for witnesses.
Heval Hishyar Tilli, 25, of Vancouver was arrested Tuesday afternoon in the death of Harpreet “Hapi” Sandhu.
Just after 10 p.m. on July 25, 2011, Sandhu was shot after a verbal confrontation with another group of youths near Sparwood Park in the Champlain Heights neighbourhood in south-east Vancouver. He was rushed to hospital, but died a short time later.
Const. Jason Doucette said there were several witnesses to the shooting; however, initially no one was speaking to police.
“With little cooperation from witnesses, investigators made a public plea on November 4, 2011, asking witnesses to do the right thing and come forward,” Doucette said. “Detectives made it clear they would not rest until Hapi’s killer was brought to justice."
Some witnesses did speak to police, which led investigators to Tilli, who has been charged with second degree murder.
Police are once again asking for witnesses to come forward.
“We are aware that there are other witnesses to this murder that have been afraid to come forward or to cooperate with the police investigation,” Doucette said. “Now that charges have been laid, we are again appealing to those people to have the courage to speak up and clear their conscience.”
Anyone with any information about the crime is urged to contact Vancouver police at 604-717-2500 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
