Motive still unclear in shooting death of international student in Vancouver: VPD

Vancouver police say the victim of a fatal shooting in the city’s south over the weekend did not have any prior run-ins with officers before his death.

Twenty-four-year-old Chirag Antil was an international student from India. He was found shot dead in a car in south Vancouver Friday night.

“He was not known to be involved in any criminal activity,” said Insp. Michael Rowe Tuesday.

“At this stage in the investigation, it is too early to say what events led to this fatal shooting but those circumstances will form the focus of our continuing investigation.”

Rowe says police have been in contact with Antil’s family in India.

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Police have not said if any suspects have been identified.

“It’s very early in the investigation, I can’t speculate as to what the motive may be or how this occurred, but I can say that, at this time, based on our investigation, the victim, Mr. Antil, does appear to be an international student who was in Vancouver and we have no reason to believe he was involved in any criminal activity at all,” Rowe added.

According to his brother, Chirag moved to Vancouver in September 2022.

Romit says, prior to his death, Chirag had just finished his MBA at University Canada West and had recently gotten his work permit.

“He had just finished a 14-hour shift. After work he came home and ate his food,” Romit said of his brother’s final hours.

“He had Saturday off so he thought, ‘Why don’t I go out?’ He had just left his place, and as he sat in his car, he got murdered — from what have been told.”

-With files from Aastha Pandey-Kanaan