Hamilton police arrest, charge man with murder in shooting of international student Harsimrat Randhawa

Hamilton police have arrested a man and charged him with first-degree murder in the shooting death of 21-year-old international student Harsimrat Randhawa.

Jerdaine Foster, 32, was arrested in Niagara Falls, Ont., on Tuesday, said Acting Det.-Sgt. Daryl Reid at a news conference Thursday. 

He was also charged with three counts of attempted murder, Reid said. 

Randhawa, from India, died in hospital of a gunshot wound after she was hit by a stray bullet while standing near a bus stop at the intersection of Upper James Street and South Bend Road on April 17. She'd just gotten off the bus and was waiting to cross the street when she was struck. 

"Harsimrat was an innocent bystander," Reid said. "She was simply trying to make her way home from a local gym when she was struck and killed." 

At least seven people in four cars were involved in a dispute that led up to the shooting, said Reid. No other arrests have been made. He would not say the nature of the dispute or if police know their identities. 

"The investigation is still ongoing, and we will do everything in our power to identify, locate and arrest all these people that are involved in this death," Reid said. 

Accused known to police

Foster has ties to Hamilton, Halton and Niagara regions, living in short-term rental properties, Reid said. He was previously known to police. 

At least two guns were involved and shots were fired between cars, he said. 

Chief Frank Bergen said Randhawa lost her life to "a senseless act of gun violence," as did 26-year-old Belinda Sarkodie in July. Sarkodie was waiting at a bus stop near James Street North and King Street West when she was shot and killed. 

Police issued a warrant for the arrest of a 17-year-old suspect who they said had intended to target another group of people when Sarkodie was struck instead. Police have not announced any arrest. 

On Thursday, Bergen described both incidents as "selfish, dangerous and the byproduct of criminal entitlement."

Of the investigation that led to Foster's arrest, Bergen said, it was complex, taking five months, and a "much welcome outcome for our grieving communities."

Randhawa was in her second year studying occupational physiotherapy at Mohawk College. 

At a vigil in the days after her death, her professor, Micheline Lancia, remembered her as a "very kind soul." 

"It's very, very overwhelming to see a student who was doing so well, gentle, respectful, a little bit timid — she would have been a beautiful health-care worker," said Lancia. "So, it's a loss to everybody."