The Edmonton Police Service has issued Canada-wide warrants for a man believed to be involved in an ongoing extortion investigation in Edmonton, as well as a shooting in Winnipeg.
Arjun Sahnan, 19, is wanted in connection with two drive-by shootings believed to be connected with the extortion investigation, and a shooting in Winnipeg on Dec. 24, 2023.
Dec. 21, 2023
Shots were fired at an upstairs bedroom window of a home in the Cy Becker neighbourhood in Edmonton at 2:50 a.m.
No one was injured. Several people, including two children, were asleep in the home at the time of the shooting.
Dec. 24, 2023
At 8:45 p.m., shots were fired at a house in northwest Winnipeg occupied by several people.
One bullet went through a bedroom, narrowly missing a person inside, before passing through a connecting wall into another occupied room.
No one was injured.
Police say the shooting was captured by security cameras in the area.
A black SUV believed to be involved in the shooting had no front licence plate, which is unusual in Manitoba but standard in Alberta.
An SUV believed to be involved in a shooting in Winnipeg on April 30, 2024. (Credit: Edmonton Police Service)
Investigators are looking for information about the SUV.
Police have also released surveillance images of a second person believed to be involved in the Winnipeg shooting in hopes of identifying him.
An unknown person believed to be involved in a shooting in Winnipeg on Dec. 24, 2023. (Credit: Edmonton Police Service)
In both incidents, attempts were made to extort the homeowner for money before the shooting.
Dec. 29, 2023
Shots were fired at an unoccupied house in the Fountain Creek neighbourhood of Sherwood Park, just outside Edmonton.
A bullet went through a window into a child’s playroom and hit a toybox.
No one was injured.
A suspect vehicle was captured on security cameras in the area.
Police say the homeowner had not been threatened, and investigators believe the shooter may have targeted the wrong house.
The EPS Firearms Investigation Unit has determined the same gun was used in all three shootings.
Arjun Sahnan is in India: police
Investigators say Sahnan left Canada for India on a flight booked before the shootings in Winnipeg and Sherwood Park.
Anyone with information on his whereabouts is asked to contact police.
“Our Firearms Investigation Unit is a sophisticated team with the resources to investigate these complex files, regardless of where the offences take place,” EPS Staff Sgt. Eric Stewart said in a Tuesday news release. “Committing gun crime in other provinces and fleeing the country will not prevent us from charging a suspect and holding them accountable.”
In addition to the two shootings in Edmonton where Sahnan is wanted, police are also investigating 32 other incidents of attempted extortions, shootings and fires targeting the South Asian home-building community in Edmonton.
The incidents happened between October 2023 and January 2024.
The investigation has been dubbed Project Gaslight.
As part of the investigation police executed search warrants and arrested a person in connection to a Jan. 10 drive-by shooting at a Cy Becker neighbourhood occupied by a family with children.
No one was injured, but police recovered bullets from inside the home.
Police had previously issued a release about the shooting looking for information about a suspect vehicle, which has since been identified.
The gun used in the shooting still hasn’t been found.
Anyone with information about any of the crimes is asked to contact EPS at 780-423-4567, at projectgaslight@edmontonpolice.ca, or by calling Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.