Edmonton police confirm name of 11-year-old boy gunned down alongside father, appeal for tips


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Police have formally identified the 11-year-old boy killed alongside his father in a targeted shooting in south Edmonton last week.

City police on Wednesday confirmed Gavin Uppal, 11, was the child victim. Police previously identified the boy’s father, 41-year-old Harpreet Singh Uppal, claiming he was a senior figure in the city’s organized crime world.

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Autopsies took place Monday and Tuesday and confirmed both victims were shot and that the manner of death was homicide. A friend of the 11-year-old in Uppal’s car was uninjured in the shooting.   

Police also issued a fresh appeal for information about a vehicle and suspects caught on CCTV at the south Edmonton gas station where the father and son were gunned down. Investigators said the suspect vehicle was a stolen 2012 BMW X6 located on fire near 34 Street and Township Road 510 shortly after the killing.

Acting Supt. Colin Derksen said last week that investigators believe Gavin was shot deliberately, not “caught in the crossfire.” He called the shooters’ actions “sick and twisted.” 

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  1. Edmonton Police Service Acting Supt. Colin Derksen provides an update on the targeted shooting that killed Harpreet Uppal, 41, and his 11 year-old son, during a press conference in Edmonton Friday Nov. 10, 2023.

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  2. The memorial at 5009 Ellerslie Rd. on Saturday, Nov. 11, 2023, followed the targeted shooting death of Harpreet Uppal, 41, and his 11-year-old son in Edmonton last Thursday.

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A memorial to the child has sprung up at the 50 Street and Ellerslie Road shopping centre where the Uppals were killed. Among the flowers was a basketball with the words “Rest Easy Gavin.” 

Other messages included: “Mom loves you lots, for life,” “You were loved, my little guy — we wait to wrestle you again,” “here’s to the best Fortnight player I ever knew” and “you were an amazing person. Rest in peace.”

The boy survived a previous attempt on his father’s life. In 2021, a gunman repeatedly fired through the window of a Royal Pizza where the family was having dinner. Charges against the only man charged in the incident — the alleged getaway driver — were stayed last month. The man’s lawyer said he had nothing to do with the shooting and was not in the province at the time.

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Anyone with information about the killings is asked to contact Crime Stoppers or the EPS non-emergency line.

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