‘He was a good boy’: family mourns tragic loss of son
Farid Farid |
A teenager shot dead at a beach in a “senseless incident” will be honoured by his grief-stricken Sikh family and community as they grapple with the shock loss.
Ekampreet Singh Sahni, 18, was allegedly killed by a man who police say got out of his vehicle, opened fire on the victim and fled the scene in a white SUV.
The teen had been hanging out with friends at the car park of a Newcastle beach, about 10 minutes drive from his home.
Paramedics treated the 18-year-old for a gunshot wound in his chest just before midnight but he died at the scene on April 23.
A memorial service will take place at Newcastle Memorial Park on Wednesday with a cremation and funeral rites at the local Gurudwara, a Sikh place of worship on Sunday.
Hundreds of mourners are expected to attend.
“He was a good boy, very hard-working and caring for everyone,” his father Arminder Singh Sahni told AAP days before the funeral.
“It is still such a huge shock for us. We can’t believe he’s gone.”
A fundraiser set up by the tight-knit Sikh community has so far raised more than $55,000 for the family.
The Indian family migrated to Sydney at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 to be closer to family, and settled in Newcastle less than a year ago.
They are on a temporary 485 visa and hope to secure permanent residency.
Mr Sahni said Ekampreet was ambitious and studying automotive engineering with dreams of running his own business.
“He was always helpful and caring for everyone around him from his grandparents to his younger brother,” he said.
Police described the shooting as “a senseless incident” which the “community won’t stand for”.
Decklen Deaves-Thornton, 22, was arrested in Newcastle after being on the run for two days before handing himself to police.
He appeared in court via video on April 26 charged with murder and will appear in a Newcastle court in June.
AAP
