Canadian police said that a man died on Thursday was acquitted in the 1985 terrorist bombing of an Air India aircraft, which claimed 329 lives.
The victim, according to officials, was Ripudaman Singh Malik, who along with co-defendant Ajaib Singh Bagri was found not guilty in March 2005 of murder and conspiracy in connection with two Air India bombs on June 23, 1985, which resulted in the deaths of 331 persons.
After Malik's son, Jaspreet Malik, reported his father's killing in a message on social media, police revealed the identify of the deceased.
The son said on Facebook that "the media would constantly refer to him as someone charged with the Air India bombing." The RCMP and media didn't appear to accept and I hope the verdict of the court and the catastrophe of today are unrelated.
On Thursday morning, a witness who works at a car wash in Surrey claimed he heard gunfire and raced outside to find Malik unconscious in his vehicle.
The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team issued a statement in which it stated: "We are aware of Mr. Malik's past, but at this point we are still trying to ascertain the motivation. We can report that the shooting seemed to be targeted, and no more risks to the public are thought to exist.
According to Sgt. Timothy Pierotti, police were sure that witnesses would be able to help them solve the crime because the shooting occurred in a residential neighbourhood.
A few streets away, a car thought to have been involved in the shooting was discovered completely consumed in flames, according to police immediately after the incident.
The British Columbia Supreme Court heard evidence in Malik's trial that a suitcase bomb was carried into a plane at the Vancouver airport and then moved to Air India Flight 182 in Toronto. 329 passengers and crew members perished when the plane crashed into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Ireland.
A bomb intended for another Air India jet blew up prematurely at Tokyo's Narita Airport, killing two baggage handlers, about an hour later.
The sole person found guilty in connection with the bombs, Inderjit Singh Reyat, testified on behalf of the prosecution during Malik and Bagri's trial and was subsequently found guilty of perjury.
The incident "just brings back all the horrific experiences we'd had to go through for the previous 37 years," Oakville, Ontario resident Deepak Khandelwal said.
When Chandra, 21, and Manju, 19, were killed on Flight 182, he was 17 years old.
He described it as "like a nightmare that never stops offering."