Harsh Khatri and his best friend made dinner together and played a game on Friday night inside their South Vancouver house.
“At 10:40 p.m., we played a game," he says. “At 11 o’clock, he went out."
This was the last time he’d see his closest friend.
"I’m devastated… I’m not sure what to do right now," he says.
Chirag Antil, 24, was found deceased inside a vehicle near East 55th Avenue and Main Street. Police believe he was shot at 11 p.m.
Khatri lived with Antil and the two were inseparable.
He tells Glacier Media that Antil parked his car near their house on 55th Avenue as Main Street was closed for the Vaisakhi parade scheduled for the next day. Antil told him he was going to meet a friend.
“We heard some gunshots,” says Khatri. “We went outside and we didn’t see anything and his car was parked there.”
A police officer came to their residence and explained how it was Antil who was shot and killed. The pair lived with two other people.
“We never imagined it was gunshots. We thought it was firecrackers," Khatri says.
Antil was working as a loss prevention officer at No Frills and as a sales associate at SoftMoc.
He graduated from the University Canada West with a master of business administration in December. Khatri explains that he was in the same program and also worked the same jobs.
“We were trying to get into the corporate world,” he says. “We thought of settling here for the future; that was our plan, have our own house and family.”
Khatri describes Antil as a really friendly person who made friends easily.
“He just tried to make people laugh,” says Khatri. “He was very, very funny.”
Khatri can’t imagine why someone would want to kill his friend.
“He hasn’t any arguments with people. We never had any fights with anyone. He shared everything with me and he never mentioned anything or any sort of argument."
The pair met in India in 2007 and their families are very close. He explains their relationship was more like family than friends.
“We did everything together. I am suffering because he was a part of me. His parents are suffering," he says.
Khatri believes Antil was in the wrong place at the wrong time and was misidentified.
“An innocent person is killed … without a reason,” he says. “Now, he’s gone. He’s gone.”
Khatri created a GoFundMe to raise money for Antil’s body to be returned to his family in Haryana, India. So far, more than $32,000 has been raised.
The Indian Consulate in Vancouver has expressed its concerns about the death and approached the 'authorities' for more information.
Vancouver police says no arrests have been made and that the investigation is ongoing.
Anyone who has information is asked to contact VPD's homicide unit at 604-717-2500.
