A 21-year-old man from Brampton has been pronounced dead after police say he was severely beaten with “some sort of sticks” on Monday afternoon.
Peel Regional Police say this marks the eight homicide of 2018 and are asking witnesses to come forward.
On March 19, at approximately 5:50 p.m., officers responded to reports of an assault in the area of Sandalwood Parkway East and Torbram Road in Brampton.
“Witnesses said the two males assaulting the male were using some sort of sticks,” Const. Harinder Sohi said. “We arrived on scene and the culprits had fled but the victim was there and he had some serious injuries.”
Police say the victim was beaten in the grassy area next to his truck but haven’t determined why he got out of his truck in the first place. He was rushed to a Toronto trauma centre with life-threatening injuries.
The victim, who is being identified as Paviter Singh Bassi, was pronounced dead Tuesday morning in the hospital.
Emotional family members told CTV News Toronto that Bassi was a “really good guy” who was employed as a security guard and involved in charity work. He was not known to police.
Bahadur Bains, the victim’s uncle, said the family is struggling and has “no closure.”
“They stop his car, block his car and then kill him… That’s what we heard,” Bains said, his voice choked with emotion.
Police say there was another large crawl in December near Sheridan College in Brampton that also involved sticks as weapons, but say there is no reason to believe the two incidents are connected.
Police believe the assailants left the scene in a vehicle and are urging anyone with dash-cam video or surveillance video to contact Peel Regional Police Homicide or the Missing Person’s Bureau at 905-453-2121 ext. 3205. Witnesses can also reach out to Peel Crime Stoppers anonymously.
