Hamilton Police have arrested and charged a 32-year-old Ontario man in connection with the stray bullet killing of Indian student Harsimrat Randhawa. The accused, Jerdaine Foster, was apprehended at Niagara Falls on Tuesday, August 5, 2025, and now faces one count of first-degree murder and three counts of attempted murder, officials said.
“Harsimrat was an innocent bystander,” Acting Detective-Sergeant Daryl Reid told reporters at a Thursday press conference. “She was simply trying to make her way home from a local gym when she was struck and killed.”
Fatal April Shooting
Police say the fatal shooting took place on April 17 near the intersection of Upper James Street and South Bend Road in Hamilton. Randhawa, 21, a second-year occupational physiotherapy student at Mohawk College, was waiting near a bus stop when a bullet from an exchange of gunfire between moving vehicles struck her. She succumbed to her injuries in the hospital.
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According to Reid, the shooting was part of a dispute involving at least seven individuals travelling in four cars. Two firearms were used, and shots were fired between vehicles. While Foster has been charged, no other arrests have been made so far. “The investigation is still ongoing, and we will do everything in our power to identify, locate, and arrest all these people involved in this death,” Reid said.
Accused Known To Police
Police confirmed that Foster was already known to law enforcement and had ties to Hamilton, Halton, and Niagara regions, often staying in short-term rental properties. Hamilton Police Chief Frank Bergen linked Randhawa’s death to a broader concern over public safety, citing a similar incident in July when 26-year-old Belinda Sarkodie was killed by a stray bullet. A 17-year-old suspect remains wanted in connection with Sarkodie’s death.
Bergen described the five-month investigation leading to Foster’s arrest as “complex” but said it provided some relief to the affected communities. Randhawa’s death has deeply impacted her college and community. At a memorial service, her professor, Micheline Lancia, described her as a gentle, respectful, and hardworking student who “would have been a beautiful health-care worker.”