Police say two separate homicide investigations in Mississauga and Caledon and a string of residential shootings in Brampton last November are now believed to be connected and investigators are appealing to the public for help identifying the perpetrators.
Officers with both Peel Regional Police and Ontario Provincial Police provided an update on the joint investigation, dubbed Project Midnight, at a news conference on Thursday afternoon.
Police said “investigative information and forensic evidence” have confirmed that five shootings in Peel Region, including two that resulted in the deaths of three people, are linked.
“Although the police believe that all the shootings were targeted, the victims in the homicides were not the intended targets,” Peel police said Thursday.
No injuries in 3 Brampton shootings
According to police, three of the five shooting incidents occurred in Brampton over a one-week period prior to the homicides.
On Nov. 7, officers were called to the area of Cottrelle Boulevard and Thorndale Road after police said two suspects discharged firearms outside of a residence and fled in a black Dodge RAM 1500 pickup truck.
Another shooting was reported on Nov. 11 at a home near Lorenville Drive and Elbern Markell Drive. Police said in that incident, the two suspects fled in a burgundy Dodge Ram 1500 pickup truck.
That same residence, police said, was targeted a second time on Nov. 14 when a suspect fired shots at the home and fled in a late model, silver Mazda 3 hatchback.
No injuries were reported in any of the three shootings, police said.
The following day, Peel police were called to Royal Windsor Drive and Winston Churchill Boulevard in Mississauga for a fatal shooting at a business in the area.
According to police, two unknown suspects approached a business and shot and killed an individual who was working there at the time.
‘Mistakenly targeted’
The victim was later identified as 29-year-old Brampton resident Jagraj Singh.
“Investigators have determined that Mr. Singh was not the intended target and it was simply the wrong place at the wrong time,” Peel police homicide Insp. Todd Custance told reporters Thursday.
The suspects arrived and fled in a blue Dodge Challenger, police said.
On Nov. 20, a shooting at a home on Mayfield Road in Caledon left two people dead and a third person with life-altering injuries, police said. All three victims sustained multiple gunshot wounds during the attack, investigators added. The man and woman killed in the shooting were previously identified as 57-year-olds Jagtar Sidhu and Harbhajan Sidhu.
“We wish to emphasize that the three victims in the homicide were innocent and mistakenly targeted,” OPP Det.-Insp. Brian McDermott said Thursday.
Police said “multiple suspects” were involved in the Caledon shooting and one was last seen on Mayfield Road entering a black pickup truck that was believed to have been stolen from Mississauga six days earlier.
“Shortly after the homicides… the same black pickup truck that was stolen from Mississauga was involved in a vehicle fire in the area of Old Baseline Road and Creditview Road in Caledon,” McDermott said.
Police said they are also looking to speak to one individual who was in the area of Mississauga Valley Boulevard and Arista Way at the time the pickup truck was stolen on Nov. 14.
Police said the person “may have valuable information” that will assist with the investigation.
Police spoke to homicide victims days before they were killed
At Thursday’s news conference, investigators also confirmed that Peel police spoke to the two victims of the Caledon homicide at their home days before their deaths.
“On Nov. 16, 2023, Peel Regional Police investigators attended this address for an unrelated, lawful investigative purpose and spoke with several people, including the victims of that homicide,” Custance said.
Police did not disclose the details of the conversation with the victims at that time but when pressed for more information, Custance said it was in relation to the homicide that occurred the day before.
“It was in furtherance of the investigation into Mr. Singh’s death on Royal Windsor Drive,” Custance told reporters.
“We had no information at that time that the occupants were in any danger. In a homicide investigation, like any major case, we visit dozens, if not hundreds of addresses, in support of an investigation and this case is certainly no different.”
Police have now released photos of suspects that are believed to be involved in the shootings and investigators are asking anyone with information about the incidents to contact the dedicated tip line at 1-833-941-5570.
