A father of three who was known for having a “perpetual smile on his face” has died after an altercation with a customer at his gas station last week.
Surinder Pal Singh, 61, died from head trauma. His death has been declared Edmonton’s 19th homicide of the year.
Just before 3:30 p.m. last Friday, southeast division officers responded to a call of “trouble not known” at a Husky gas station at 7507 50th Street. It was reported that a male customer got into a “physical dispute” with an employee, police said in a news release. Paramedics treated and transported Singh to hospital with life-threatening injuries. He died Wednesday in hospital.
Jasbeer Singh does not know what happened to his brother at the gas station that afternoon. Jasbeer said he heard his brother fell backward and hit his head on the ground, causing a concussion and hemorrhaging.
He said the family is devastated.
Surinder moved to Edmonton from New Delhi 25 years ago. He was married with three adult children. He bought the gas station about a year ago. It was not a functioning facility at the time, so Surinder spent time renovating and opened its doors two months ago.
“In my entire life, I never saw him once say, ‘ I’m tired and let’s leave this thing today and we’ll do it tomorrow,’ so he was a very, extremely hardworking individual,” Jasbeer said.
“He always had a perpetual smile on his face. He’s not known to have engaged in any arguments or controversies with anyone. He was a very likable and personable individual. He minded his own business and he never said no to anything.”
A funeral will be held for Surinder on Saturday afternoon.
Homicide detectives have interviewed the customer allegedly involved in the altercation. He is not in custody and is not facing any charges at this time, police said. The investigation is ongoing.
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