The reward for the arrests and conviction of assailants responsible for the March 4 fatal shooting of two elderly Sikh Americans taking a walk in an Elk Grove neighborhood has reached $57,000, police and members of the community said today.
The still-unsolved shootings on March 4 led to the deaths of Surinder Singh, 65, Gurmej Atwal, 78. Singh was killed instantly. Atwal spent six weeks in a hospital before he succumbed.
Today, law enforcement officers, two Elk Grove City Council members, representatives of the Sikh American community and other volunteers met in a Park and Ride lot just a few hundred feet from where the slayings occurred.
Then volunteers visited nearby businesses within a two-mile radius of the shootings to spread the reward notices and share the message: The determination to find the assailants remains strong.
The community has come together to spread the word and keep the memory of the heinous crime alive until the case is solved, said City Councilwoman Sophia Scherman. "We don't want people to forget.
"Somewhere out there is someone who will slip and say something. The increased reward is going to open many, many doors."
The Sikh American, Muslim and Jewish communities as well as members of other faiths have decried the attacks.
The Sikh Community along with a coalition of community organizations have jointly raised more than $42,000 for information leading to the arrest of people responsible for the shootings. Up to $15,000 more is available from Sacramento County's multi-agency Crime Alert program, said Randy Goodwin of the Sacramento County Probation Department and a representative of the county's Crime Alert Program.
PHOTO ONE CREDIT: Navjit Kaur and Gagandeep Mann circulate reward notices in the fatal March 4 shootings in Elk Grove of two Sikh American men out for a walk. Loretta Kalb, Sacramento Bee.
PHOTO TWO CREDIT: One of the largest reward notices in the Sacramento region - $57,000 - was posted on buildings and businesses Sunday less than miles from the site of the March 4 shootings of two elderly Sikh Americans in Elk Grove. This sign was displayed by a representative of Metropolis Comix in Sacramento. Authorities are treating the case as a hate crime. Loretta Kalb, Sacramento Bee.
KCRA: Volunteers rally to find Elk Grove shooting suspect - Oct. 16, 2011
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