Crime & Safety

Day of Action on Sikh Murders Sunday

Frustrated at lack of leads in March shooting, community members will canvass neighborhoods, hand out reward bulletins.

It's been more than six months since while they were out walking in their Elk Grove neighborhood, and police have turned up few leads besides a description of a car seen in the area at the time of the attack.

On Sunday, hoping to entice a witness to come forward, community members will hold a Day of Action to spread the word about the unsolved shooting of the two elderly Sikh men.

Volunteers will gather at 9:45 a.m. at the scene of the shooting, the intersection of East Stockton Blvd and Geneva Pointe Dr, and then fan out to stores and neighborhoods to hand out information about rewards offered in the case.

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"The intent is to bring increased awareness to the crimes," Amar Shergill, an attorney with the South Asian Community and Culture Political Action Committee, said in a statement announcing the event. "Somewhere, there is a witness with information that can help bring justice for the victims' families and the community."

Sikh leaders also hope the community action will help put pressure on Gov. Jerry Brown to grant a request made by the for an additional $50,000 reward in the case. The funds would come from a special Governor's Reward Program for unsolved crimes, and would join $52,000 already raised by grassroots groups and law enforcement.

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Shergill said a coalition of community organizations wrote a letter to Brown Oct. 6 urging him to approve the request, but have not yet received a response.

Police have raised the possibility that the March 4 shooting was a hate crime, as Atwal and Singh—both originally from the Indian state of Punjab—were wearing religious turbans at the time.

Singh, 65, died that day from his injuries, and Atwal, 78, .

Anyone with information about the murders can leave an anonymous tip with Crime Alerts at 916-443-HELP or www.crimealerts.org. To contribute to the reward fund, contact Lynne Brown at crimepreventionpros@gmail.com.


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