Flowers, kind words as family reopens store

Grieving relatives of the owners of Bill's Market arrived at the store Wednesday afternoon to find a mounting collection of good wishes and prayers left by friends, customers and people they don't even know.

The cousins, there to reopen the store two days after a deadly armed robbery, stopped for a few moments to read some of the sentiments taped to the glass door.

"The members of this community are outraged and stunned to what has happened here," one note read. "Please know that there are many people that are holding you in their thoughts and prayers at this very difficult time."

The death of Gurdip Singh and the injuries to his son, Sarabjit Singh, are hitting a community that came to know Gurdip Singh as a gentle man, recognized by his quiet demeanor and traditional Sikh turban.

He usually worked a few hours in the afternoon, but also at night with his son, pulling shifts he didn't want the female members of the family to work.

He had been in the United States only a few years, said his nephew, Amrinder P. Singh, who spoke Wednesday about his uncle and cousin. His uncle came from Punjab, India, hoping for opportunity for his family.

"My uncle, he was a really gentle guy," Amrinder Singh said.

The son, 26-year-old Sarabjit Singh, who police had identified as Sarvjao, had been in the United States for six or seven years, his cousin said. He also worked regularly at the store and was wounded during the robbery Monday. He remained hospitalized Wednesday.

Amrinder Singh said he did not know how many shots struck his cousin, but said one hit his left arm and passed near his heart.

"He's doing all right," he said. "He's still in the ICU," referring to the hospital intensive care unit.

He had a simple way of describing his cousin: "He's the same as his dad, a good guy with a good heart."

Lining the storefront were religious candles, an angel holding a rose and bouquets with sympathy cards.

"May you find comfort in treasured memories," read a card from a woman named Sandy. "With sincere sympathy."

Another woman left her name and number, saying she'd been at the store shortly before the shooting. She said she may have some information.

Ron Hitsman, who lives with his wife down the street, said he's known the Singh family since they bought the store two years ago.

"I've known the father and the son," he said. "It's a sad, sad deal. It's a pretty horrific thing when it hits so close to home. That's the sad part; we know them and feel so bad for them."

Architect Jerry Tierney, who owns and manages the Russell Avenue property, said he'd spoken with Iqbal "Bill" Singh, who runs the market.

The Singhs had added security cameras outside in addition to those inside, which had newer technology.

"Hopefully they'll be able to get something from them," Tierney said.

Such violence is rare at the small strip mall, which sits behind two drive-through restaurants that face Cleveland Avenue south of the Bicentennial-Highway 101 overcrossing.

"We've not even had graffiti in a couple of years," he said, knocking on his wooden conference table Wednesday. "It's kind of a neighborhood."

He said the area has changed dramatically over the past decade, with new housing tracts to the west and a new building under construction next to the Sonoma County Superior Court civil annex across Russell.

"You get more complacent," he said.

Hitsman runs a plumbing business and had done some work at the market. He has lived in the area for 20 years.

"We've just had a rash of stuff happening. It's tragic," he said. "It really affects people, especially when you know them. It's too doggone close."

Tierney said he has spoken to other convenience store owners who have expressed concern that the Singh shooting and another one in Larkfield over the weekend may be related. In both cases the gunman shot even though he received no resistance from the clerks.

The clerk in the Larkfield incident is expected to fully recover.

"It's scary," Tierney said. "You wonder if there's just some trigger happy guy running around."

For the Singh family, it's a time of grieving.

Amrinder Singh and another relative carefully set aside some of the dozens of flowers, candles and cards as they reopened the store Wednesday afternoon.

Amrinder Singh tried to describe the grief now embracing his aunt, Gurdip Singh's widow:

"You know what happens to glass when it falls on the floor," he said. "Shatters into pieces."

Funeral arrangements are pending.

You can reach Staff Writers Lori A. Carter at 568-5312 or lori.carter@pressdemocrat.com, and Robert Digitale at 521-5285 or robert.digitale@press

democrat.com.