Jaswinder Singh had a big heart and was a friend to all.
That’s how his family wants everyone to remember Singh, a three-year Greenwood resident and one of the eight victims who died in the mass shooting Thursday night at the FedEx Ground facility on the southwest side of Indianapolis. He was 68 years old.
It was his second week on the job. He got the job because he was bored at home, and he had friends in the Sikh community who worked there too, said Jaspal Singh, one of his relatives.
"He went to work Monday … he was off for a couple days then he went Thursday night, and he didn’t come back," Jaspal Singh said.
Jaswinder Singh moved to Greenwood about three years ago to join several of his family members, including his son, Gurinder Singh, who lived in the area. He was a husband, father to three and grandfather to five.
He enjoyed daily walks through a park in his neighborhood, Homecoming at University Park. He loved talking to people and was very involved with the Sikh community, going to the temple in Greenwood regularly.
"He was friends with kids; he was friends with elders. He had a good heart. He was a good person," Jaspal Singh said. "We went to temple today and everybody missed him. It’s very sad."
Four of the eight victims in the shooting were members of the Sikh community. Locally, the community is standing behind Jaswinder Singh’s family and the rest of the victims’ families as they go through this.
"They’re all helping us, they’re saying their with us if we need anything," Jaspar Singh.
The City of Greenwood stands with the family, too. Mayor Mark Myers and officers from the Greenwood Police Department visited the temple this weekend to offer their condolences. And members of the community hosted a candlelight vigil Monday night to honor all eight victims.
Now, the family is waiting to make funeral arrangements and contact family in India. Jaswinder Singh’s other children and his brothers are there now, and the family here in Indiana is working to process passports this week.
"This is something you always hear about on the news, but you never know it could happen to you," Jaspar Singh said.