Kartik Vasudev, Fatally Shot In Canada, Wasn't Supposed To Be At The Subway Station That Fateful Day

"If you had met him for just two minutes, you'd remember him for the rest of your life. He was the sweetest child," says a heartbroken man whose son was killed thousands of miles away, in what is said to be a hate crime.

Jitesh Vasudev and his family are inconsolable. They have not only lost a young and bright child but also their hopes and dreams.

On April 7, 21-year-old Indian student Kartik Vasudev was shot and killed in Toronto, Canada. The shooting, which claimed Vasudev's life, happened outside the Sherbourne subway station.

Police say that Kartik was shot multiple times at the Glen Road entrance of Toronto's Sherbourne TTC Subway Station around 5 pm.

Kartik Vasdev

Kartik was a student at Seneca College. He became Toronto's 19th victim of homicide since the beginning of 2022. He was in his first semester of global business management and had only just moved to Toronto from India in January.

Kartik's father said that it was his son's dream to attend a school in Canada, but it was cut short after just four months in the country by a deplorable act of violence.

"He wasn't supposed to be at the station"

Speaking to Indiatimes, Jitesh Vasudev, a resident of Ghaziabad, said that he had received a call from his son earlier on a fateful day and he mentioned that he would be leaving for work soon.

"He received a call from his manager and was asked to get off at another station while on the way to work and pick some stuff from a nearby shop. He got off that subway station for the first time and the moment he climbed up the stairs, he was fatally shot. He was not supposed to be there," said Jitesh with a heavy voice.

"We had received a call from his building where he lives with some other friends that he had not reached the building, and after several hours of not being able to reach him, we asked them to file a missing person report," he said adding that soon they heard from one of his friends that there has been a shooting at a subway station and they recognised Kartik's bag.

n April 7, 21-year-old Indian student Kartik Vasdev was shot and killed in Toronto, Canada.

Suffering from multiple gunshot wounds, he was attended to by an off-duty paramedic but eventually succumbed to injuries. Vasudev was pronounced dead at a local hospital Thursday evening.

Friends say Vasudev was travelling to his part-time job at a Mexican restaurant when he was shot, but it is not clear if the attack was targeted or random.

His father said that he and his family believed Canada to be a safe country and that nothing could happen to him there. But this incident has changed their lives and beliefs forever.

A heartbroken mother

Jitesh said that his wife is in a wretched condition. She is still not able to come to terms with what happened to her child.

"My wife is totally broken. Kartik was very close to his mother and would call her first thing and tell her about his plans for the day. He frequently sent pictures to our family group," he said.

"He was not only a sweet child but also a brilliant one. He topped his school and university and every teacher believed in him," he said, adding that his teachers believed that he would do "something big" in his life.

Kartik was a student at Seneca College

Kartik's body is expected to arrive in India on Saturday.

Alleged attacker arrested

Meanwhile, the Toronto police have arrested the alleged attacker and are interrogating him.

The police did not assign any motive behind the crime and called it a "random attack".

Police chief James Ramer identified the attacker as 39-year-old Richard Jonathan Edwin. He said Jonathan was taken into custody on Sunday evening. According to the cops, he did not know Kartik Vasudev, whom he allegedly shot.

The investigators said that Jonathan had whipped out a gun and shot Kartik multiple times before fleeing. "Kartik was approached by the accused, who is believed to be a complete stranger to him. Kartik was in a defenseless position and was shot multiple times. The killing was a random attack of violence," detective sergeant Terry Browne of the homicide department of Toronto police said.

When asked about the motive behind the attack, the detective sergeant said the police did not have any criminal history of Jonathan yet but we're making a "very deep dive" to check his records.

The Vasudev family is still trying to find answers to why their son was killed. "We demand the maximum punishment for the murderer," he said.

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