Deeply Grieved: India on Indian-American Sikh Cop Shot Dead in US

Sandeep Singh Dhaliwal was shot while conducting a traffic stop, Sheriff Ed Gonzalez reportedly said.

Sandeep Singh Dhaliwal (L) was shot while conducting a traffic stop.

(Photo courtesy: Twitter/Ed Gonzalez)

An Indian-American Sikh police officer died after being shot multiple times from behind in a "ruthless, cold-blooded way" during a traffic stop in the US state of Texas, PTI reported on Saturday, 28 September, quoting a senior official.

Sandeep Singh Dhaliwal, Sikh Harris County Sheriff's deputy, was shot while conducting a traffic stop, Sheriff Ed Gonzalez reportedly said. He was in his early 40s.

Gonzalez said Dhaliwal, a 10-year veteran of the department, stopped a vehicle with a man and woman inside and one of them got out and shot him "ambush-style" at least twice in a "ruthless, cold-blooded way."

The shooter was seen running to a shopping centre nearby, officials told PTI.

Investigators were reportedly able to identify what the shooter looked like by watching Dhaliwal's dashcam video.

“They immediately looked at his dashcam to see what the suspect looked like, they took a photo of the suspect on the scene with their phone and immediately got that out to our intel people.”

Sheriff Ed Gonzalez

The vehicle the shooter was driving was found and is being investigated, officials further said, adding that the gunman and the woman were taken into custody.

Dhaliwal was married and a father of three children.

“Deputy Sandeep Dhaliwal was a trailblazer. He was an example for many. He represented his community with respect and pride.”

Commissioner Adrian Garcia

"Deputy Dhaliwal is known to everybody as someone with a giving heart," Gonzalez said.

"Post (Hurricane) Harvey, when we needed the help most, he brought an 18-wheeler of people that he gathered together, that came all the way from California to deliver goods to our community."

Pall of Gloom Descends on Kin’s House

A pall of gloom descended on Kartar Singh's house at Dhaliwal Bet village in the district on hearing about the death of his nephew .

The relatives and villagers assembled at the house of Dhaliwal’s uncle Kartar Singh to mourn the death of the police officer.

Singh, 80, told the media that the family received the information about the death at 5:00 am on Saturday through a phone call from a relative. Then they tried to contact the police officer's family in the US to confirm the news.

Singh said his nephew was brought up by his family as Dhaliwal's father was based in the US. Dhaliwal, who was in his early 40s, left for the US in 1995 after completing his class 12 in a village school and joined the police service as deputy sheriff about 10 years ago. Singh said they have to bear the irreparable loss and someone from the family will go to the US to attend Dhaliwal's cremation.

Condolences Pour in for ‘History-Making’ Police Officer

Since 2015, Dhaliwal was the “history-making” police officer in Texas to serve while keeping his Sikh articles of faith, including a turban and beard. 

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh said Dhaliwal represented the Sikh community with pride.

He was allowed to wear the turban and beard while patrolling the streets in order to bolster cultural diversity.

The Bureau of South and Central affairs, US Department of State tweeted saying Dhaliwal had touched the nation with his selfless service.

Dhaliwal worked with United Sikhs, a global humanitarian relief and advocacy nonprofit, to help organise the donation of truckloads of supplies for first responders after ‘Harvey’.

(With inputs from PTI)