An Indian student who arrived in Canada in January this year has been brutally murdered at a Toronto subway station Kartik Vasudev, a 21-year-old student at Seneca College, was on his way to work at 5 pm Friday when he was shot several times outside of the Glen Road entrance to Sherbourne station in Toronto’s St. James Town neighbourhood. Details surrounding the shooting are scarce, but police have said the suspect is a Black male standing five-foot-six to five-foot-seven inches tall with a medium build who was last seen carrying a handgun and walking south on Glen Road toward Howard Street.
By DESIBUZZCanada Staff With News Files
TORONTO – An Indian student who arrived in Canada in January this year has been brutally murdered at a Toronto subway station
Kartik Vasudev, a 21-year-old student at Seneca College, was on his way to work at 5 pm Friday when he was shot several times outside of the Glen Road entrance to Sherbourne station in Toronto’s St. James Town neighbourhood.
Details surrounding the shooting are scarce, but police have said the suspect is a Black male standing five-foot-six to five-foot-seven inches tall with a medium build who was last seen carrying a handgun and walking south on Glen Road toward Howard Street.
Jitesh Vasudev told CTV News Toronto that his son Kartik had dreamed of coming to Canada to work and study before he arrived in Toronto in January this year.
The shooting has left more questions than answers for Vasudev and his family.
“Why has this happened to him? I don’t know. Why he killed my innocent son, I just want to know,” Vasudev told CTV News Toronto on Saturday while fighting back tears. “If he wanted something from him, he could have snatched it. Why has he killed him? It’s a brutal murder.”
Police said an off-duty paramedic was at the scene and administered first aid to Kartik before he was rushed to St. Michael’s Hospital and pronounced dead.
“He was shot six or seven times, that was very brutal. I just want to know what happened. What was the reason behind that?” Vasudev said, speaking from India.
The Consulate General of India identified Kartik in a post to Twitter Friday. Vasudev said his family is working with the consulate to bring his body back to India.
In the aftermath of the shooting, Kartik’s father is remembering his son as a ‘very bright student’ who had his whole life ahead of him.
“I don’t know why this happened to him,” Vasudev said. “He was a very bright student. He was very polite, very gentle.”
The marketing student made the long trip to Toronto in January after three years of studies in India. Vasudev said his son had worked hard to make the journey and thought that Canada was a safe place.
“He was loving this country and was saying that this was a very good country,” Vasudev said.
“We can’t even believe that this has happened to my son.”
A candlelight vigil is set to take place at Nathan Phillips Square on Sunday in Kartik’s memory. A GoFundMe fundraising page has been setup to help support the family.
Anyone with information related to the shooting is asked to contact police at 416-808-7400 or Crime Stoppers.
Courtesy CTV News Toronto