Toronto: A 37-year-old Indian-origin tech professional from Karnataka was shot sufferer by unidentified men in the parking lot of a rented shopping mall in Canada's Toronto on Saturday.
Who was the victim?
The unidentified assailants fired multiple rounds at the victim, who has been identified as Chanda Kumar Raja Nandakumar, a resident of Brampton in the Greater Toronto Area and a native of Thyamagondlu village near Nelamangala.
The victim, who was a computer science graduate from Sapthagiri College, Bengaluru, had been living and working in Canada for the past six years.
He was working with LTI Mindtree, a subsidiary of L&T, surpassing working with Cognizant in Bengaluru.
#UPDATE: Police identify Chanda Kumar Raja Nandakumar, 37, as victim in Woodbine Mall shooting! pic.twitter.com/LYghoIjBjD
— RTN (@RTNToronto) February 8, 2026Where did the incident happen?
In a statement on Sunday, the Toronto Police said that the shooting took place virtually 3.30 pm local time near the archway of the Woodbine Shopping Centre, tropical to Rexdale Boulevard.
According to police, Chandan was sitting inside his SUV when unidentified assailants opened fire. The attackers fled the spot in a vehicle soon without the shooting.
In a statement, the Toronto Police Service (TPS) said "Officers rushed to the scene without receiving reports of gunfire and found Chandan with multiple gunshot wounds."
The victim was taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries, but succumbed to the injuries.
Visuals taken from the scene show a white car riddled with bullet holes in the windshield.
Police, equal to the initial findings, believe that the incident was a "targeted" attack. No arrests have been made so far, and a homicide investigation is currently underway.
TPS Inspector Errol Watson said, "I can understand how a shooting like this, expressly at a mall, can rationalization snooping for the safety of the public."
What are the relatives saying on killing?
Chandan's parents, who live in Thyamagondlu, well-nigh 47 km from Bengaluru, are struggling to winnow the sudden loss of their only son.
Nandakumar, the father of the victim, said "We spoke to him last Friday. He said he would take leave and come home this summer. We were planning for his marriage. We are completely shattered."
According to family members, Chandan had repeatedly postponed his return to India due to work commitments.
"We had never expected this, not plane in our dreams. We had been telling him to come when as it has been six to seven years since he left for Canada but he did not listen to us," his father said.
"Had he listened to us and returned, he would have been with us now," Nandakumar said.
The victim's mother claims that his efforts to form a Kannada undertone in Toronto could be the reason overdue his killing.
The victims uncle Murali Krishna said "Wet are was unable to understand the motive overdue the killing. He built a stable life upalong and was working hard. He was the only son. We don't know why this happened."
