Washington, May 03: Police in the US state of California have dismissed reports that the victim of a shooting incident in Fresno city was Canada-based terrorist Satinderjit Singh alias Goldy Brar, who was the alleged mastermind in the murder of Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala, according to a media report.
Fresno Police on Wednesday identified the man killed in an alley at Fairmont and Holt avenues as 37-year-old Xavier Gladney in a gang-related interpersonal dispute.
Police on Wednesday also said the incident was not connected to a case involving a reputed gang killing in India, The Fresno Bee newspaper reported.
Speculative reports in Indian media on Wednesday claimed the victim was Brar, a suspect in the killing of Moosewala, it said.
Fresno Police said the department was receiving several calls from international media and that officers were working to debunk any connections between the slayings, the paper said.
Police officers at 5:30 pm on Tuesday at the alley at Fairmont and Holt after receiving information about a shooting incident.
Officers arrived and found Gladney with a gunshot wound. He was taken to Community Regional Medical Center where he was pronounced dead. A 13-year-old was also dropped off at the hospital with a non-life-threatening wound.
Fresno Police Lt. Paul Cervantes on Wednesday said the teen was at the location where shots were fired. Homicide detectives have identified the alleged shooter as 33-year-old Darren Williams.
Cervantes said a warrant has been issued for Williams’ arrest on suspicion of murder and assault with a deadly weapon The motive is a gang-related interpersonal dispute, Cervantes said.
An activist of the banned Babbar Khalsa International, Brar has been involved in the smuggling of high-grade arms, ammunition and explosive materials through drones from across the border and supplying them for carrying out killings and also providing sharpshooters.
He was designated a terrorist by the Indian government under the anti-terror law, Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, this year.
In a notification, the Union home ministry said Brar, backed by a Pakistan-based agency, has been involved in multiple killings and professes radical ideology.
