Surrey shooting victim was 'a very sweet kid,' says youth mentor

Added: 2026-05-13

[00:00:00]Thank you for taking the time with us as always. It is deeply troubling news out of Syria on Sunday. Um how are you seeing the community react right now?

[00:00:08]Well, the community's reacting as the community typically reacts after some of these incidents. It's a sobering moment.

[00:00:13]Uh it's awakening the community to the violence that's out there in the community uh impacting our youth. But it's always been a reactive um it's always been a reaction to these things that comes after the fact.

[00:00:26]Uh and I've been uh um amplifying the message for a very long time that we need to be proactive and not waiting to be reactionary once something happens.

[00:00:36]Uh now for a couple of days, obviously the headlines will be all over the place and the public will be reeling uh from the incident. But then it's back to normal and people become desensitized to the level of violence that's happening within our communities. What what what is is the path that a 16-year-old and an 18-year-old take that ends with them shot dead in an underground parking lot?

[00:01:00]Even I'll be honest with you. It's um we had worked uh with the older youth uh in this situation quite closely as a matter of fact. I personally mentored him.

[00:01:09]Spent significant amount of time with him and I think if the general public had got to know him personally, they would have seen that he was a very sweet kid.

[00:01:17]Uh personally, I think we got in early.

[00:01:19]Uh we were able to give him the support services, the resources, the amenities that he needed to be successful in life and we could see that change uh in the arc of his trajectory and he was coming back on the right path. Um but the lure of the other side was too great uh and they kept trying to pull him back. So it was essentially the tug-of-war that was happening between us uh and those other individuals. And at some point in time on the crossroads, he had to make a decision of which way he was going to take this.

[00:01:46]So what the public needs to understand is these are kids before they become headlines.

[00:01:51]And with these children, and we they come uh uh, in some cases from families with uh, a lot of trauma, dysfunction, and suffering.

[00:02:00]They're human beings like everybody else, and they weren't born hardcore gangsters.

[00:02:05]And we need to understand that. We need to humanize this equation. And and just to be clear, you knew and worked with the 18-year-old who died.

[00:02:14]That's correct, yes.

[00:02:15]When did he first come in contact with you?

[00:02:18]Approximately 2 and 1/2 years ago. His mother had reached out to us as most parents do saying that, uh, I believe he's heading down the wrong path and he needs guidance, mentorship, and help.

[00:02:28]And if you can please help us. We went above and beyond.

[00:02:31]Uh, I could recognize um, that potential in him, uh, with respect to becoming uh, a mentor in the community. Somebody that has the the attributes, the skill sets, the qualities, the characteristics that he could have a huge influence on the younger generation if he stays on the right track. Somebody that was remarkably intelligent if he had pursued his education, and we were willing We were there for him. We're willing to provide him all these platforms.

[00:02:58]But once again, he was not willing to let go, uh, of his negative friend circle, and obviously they had their own vested agenda. He served a purpose for them, and I think he failed to realize that at the time.

[00:03:11]What does it say, Cal, that you There you have somebody who is working with you or you who you're working with for 2 and 1/2 years trying to steer them in the right direction, you know, influencing them, and and the pull of you said as you said of the other side is just so strong that they end up where they end up?

[00:03:30]Yeah, Stephen, well, like we cannot be there with these kids 24/7, but I think the greater misstep is pointing a finger at a specific institution or department or agency and saying it's your fault.

[00:03:40]You could have done better. That's not true whatsoever. And I'm not suggesting that's the case at all. Well, I'm not suggesting you're saying that. It's being said out in public at this moment.

[00:03:50]And so, I think there's it's symptomatic of greater issues within the publics that we all need to work together in conjunction and not be compartmentalized in our independent silos with somebody like this. Now, if the parents, the mom, recognized the value of the type of program that we provide uh then she trusted in us and trusted in us and bestowed us with the faith that we can change her child's life, which we have done in many, many other thousands of cases.

[00:04:23]But in his case, uh once again, I could see that the pull of the other lifestyle was very strong.

[00:04:29]>> [snorts] >> Uh I went once again above and beyond uh with the spending spending time with him, keeping him under my wing, bringing him out to programs, and he would volunteer regularly.

[00:04:39]Uh he was a really good kid at that point. Uh but once again, there was always elements about him that uh you could see that he was also drawn to the other side. And he was truly standing at a cross point uh where we knew that um at some point in time if the lure is strong enough, it'll be a tipping point.

[00:04:59]And that's exactly what it was. I think uh every what we need to understand, what the public needs to understand is every single child is seeking acceptance and identity.

[00:05:10]And if they're not finding it at home, and if they're not finding it out in a constructive public setting, they're going to find it with these guys. These drug dealers and these gangsters, they're just looking for easy labor. These kids that they can that are naive, gullible, malleable, and can easily be manipulated and push them into the gang life to serve their purpose to make them profits. These gangsters that are driving their fancy cars, living in their fancy houses at the expense of these kids. And we keep explaining it to these kids. I even said to uh this young man, I said, "You continue on this path. I promise you it's going to be one or two things.

[00:05:47]You're going to end up in jail or you're going to end up dead.

[00:05:50]And uh his response very laissez-faire, very casual, was that um we'll see what happens.

[00:05:58]Is it fair to ask whether gang prevention programs are actually effective, you know, given the situation here? And I know we're talking about one case and you know, somebody you worked with. This is one individual. Um you cited a number of other success stories. Do the successes outweigh the failures?

[00:06:15]Uh yes, they do. Uh I have personally pulled out uh many high-profile gang members that were deeply entrenched in the lifestyle. But there was factors in their life which made them stop, reassess and reevaluate their situation, and the drive to change was strong enough. For example, in one of them, uh their both of their kids got hooked on the same drugs they were selling on the street.

[00:06:44]And both of them OD'd and were brought back with naloxone. And in that case, uh that was the the line in the sand, the tipping point where the gangster said enough is enough. I'm done with this lifestyle. I want to change. And they've done tremendously well for themselves.

[00:07:00]They're productive citizens of society, going back to the school, finished their education. And they've done tremendously well, and there's many, many, many other examples like that. But my main focus always has been early childhood development, and that is why we primarily like to work with elementary school kids because we can mold them and we can instill good, positive values and connect them with constructive outlets such as sports, education, and mentorship, and some cases clinical counseling, which we also provide free of cost. But in this case, uh with this young individual, everything that we could have done uh within our capacity, we did. Uh I can say that wholeheartedly.

[00:07:41]Uh and so there was no stone left unturned but once again he had to make a decision. I'm sure they were putting a lot of pressure on him because they knew he was involved with Kids Play.

[00:07:53]He made that very obvious to them as well. He was trying to change. I and once again I saw a lot of good in him.

[00:07:59]Where I saw that he had the potential to be this remarkable individual that could bring um his skill set to others where eventually at some point in time he'll become an incredible mentor.

[00:08:13]And [snorts] I saw him growing into that position where at some of our summer camps he was actually working with little kids and guiding them and mentoring them and it was sweet to watch because I always knew he had that potential.

[00:08:24]But once again they obviously were watching as well.

[00:08:27]They knew his potential too and they wanted to continue to drag him to the other side because he served a purpose for them and I don't think he realized it at that time.

[00:08:37]Kell, it's really good to hear you as always. Thank you for the time.

[00:08:41]Thank you so much Steven. I appreciate it. You too. Take care. Bye-bye. Thank you. That's Kal Dosanjh, the CEO of Kids Play, a foundation that works to divert youth away from gangs. He's also a law enforcement officer and he personally worked with and knew the 18-year-old who was shot to death on Sunday.