Investigation ongoing into death of 19-year-old Walmart employee in Halifax - Horrific allegations emerging online that the teenager was killed in a walk-in oven.

The investigation into the sudden death of a 19-year-old Walmart employee over the weekend is ongoing in Halifax.

The woman’s identity has not been released, but the Maritime Sikh Society confirmed to CTV News that she was a member of their community. Members say she moved to Nova Scotia two to three years ago.

In a news release Monday, Halifax Regional Police said they were called to a sudden death at the Walmart at 6990 Mumford Road around 9:30 p.m. Saturday.

According to police, a 19-year-old woman who was employed at the store was found dead inside the building.

The store has remained closed since Saturday night while the investigation is ongoing. There is no word on when it might reopen.

HRP Const. Martin Cromwell says police are aware of online speculation about the woman’s cause of death, but would not confirm nor address the information being shared.

“The investigation is complex,” said Cromwell.

“We understand the public is involved, and we just wanted to encourage the public to be patient with our investigation and be mindful that there are family members and coworkers involved.”

Cromwell says Halifax police are coordinating with the appropriate agencies to help with the investigation.

The Department of Labour told CTV News it has not conducted its own investigation into the incident yet.

“The Department of Labour, Skills and Immigration is aware of the situation and continues to engage with our partners the Halifax Regional Police who have control of the scene,” a spokesperson said.

The department said it is unable to share further information at this time.

Walmart released a statement on Sunday, stating the company was aware of the incident and working to support its staff.

“We are heartbroken and our deepest thoughts are with our associate and their family. We extend our sincerest condolences to those who were closest to them,” said spokesperson Amanda Moss in the statement.

“We’re also supporting our associates during this incredibly difficult time and have provided access to 24/7 virtual care and will provide on-site support, including grief counselling.”

CTV News reached out to Walmart on Monday, but the company declined to comment further.

Archive

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This has been all over Canadian news, and is spreading further. Some huge occupational health and safety implications.

The locals (and employees of the closed store) have been sharing details that the media aren’t reporting.

Apparently is was common for employees to stand in front of the open oven door to warm up when temperatures were cold.

The walk-in oven used to be a closet in the back room that was converted.

The girl’s mother also worked at that store and was supposedly on shift when it happened.

Of all the ways to go, being cooked to death in a closet oven is up there as one of the worst I can think of.

I actually hope she was murdered first, as terrible as that would be.

 

[Dr. Butt]

.. Walk-in oven? What.

There are several in the back of every large bakery in your town. Different types as well.

 

[Cheesegirl78]

Supposedly, this is the oven she died in according to a person commenting on Facebook that works there:
View attachment 6549370

I worked with an oven just like this when I was a bakery clerk, except ours had a much larger proof box attached to it.
There was no way to lock yourself in it and get it started, someone did this deliberately.
My boss would get irritated with me because I would refuse to get inside the thing to clean it.

I do hope the poor girl was dead beforehand.

 

[PhoBingas]

Like I just do not understand this story whatsoever. There is no such thing as a piece of equipment that can be turned on but not off. I also can't think of how it could be broken or rigged in a way that would make it so.

Not uncommon to have sketchy "temporary" nigger-rigged tier fixes, to keep something going for a shift; then suddenly that temporary fix is just the permanent fix.
Update. Walmart is still closed. According to the article, the employees are getting paid still.

 

[Flamin Park]

Those aren't walk-in, you push a cart full of trays with bread/pastries on it but you never actually walk into it because there's no space for more than the cart meaning that the chick got inside without the cart, somehow locked the door and nobody heard her screams until it was too late, what are the odds?

Cool it with the antisemitic remarks

 

[Lucille Bluth]

i thought Sikhs were nice people with turbans, according to reddit they love peace and are more like the irl jedi than evil brown muzzies.

Depending on context, Reddit loves depending the Pajeets despite the rampant racism, classism and sexism among their people.

They love calling anyone who questions Pajeet behaviour "racist" or being "anti-brown/Indian"... unless it's a rape that happened in India. Then everyone remembers that Indians are fucked.

Don't discount involvement from the mother, though.

Many women help men in honour killings. In Ottawa, there was an infamous honour killing among an Afghan immigrant family and IIRC, female relatives helped kill the victims. In BC, a Pajeeta (Jaswinder Kaur Sidhu) went back to India to marry the wrong clan so the mother became the mastermind of the plan that killed her daughter.

If this was an honour killing, I wouldn't be shocked if the mother or some female relative were also involved.

 

[PhoBingas]

If this was an honour killing, I wouldn't be shocked if the mother or some female relative were also involved.

Other articles were saying her mother and boyfriend were both on shift with her in working elsewhere the building. Make of that what you will.

 

[Kiwisee]

As if yesterday, police say that they’re still investigating the death:

Not to power level too hard, but I know from personal experience that if police are investigating a death that they don’t think happened accidentally, it’s likely that they’re investigating it as a homicide.

The manner of death is likely still being investigated; likely meaning that the coroner is autistically looking over the corpse to make sure that they can confirm the cause of death. If it was just from injuries caused by the oven, they would’ve said so by now.

The victim’s name may also have been Simran Kaur, but don’t quote me on that as I’m not 100% sure it is her.

 

[Judgment Boy]

Feel free to call me late and gay, but I haven't seen anyone post this update in here.

Apparently the oven in that specific Walmart does NOT lock, and apparently she was already out of the oven by the time first responders got there.
(Given this is 'according to sources', so take from that what you will. 100% could believe the lock was broken or something though.)

Disturbing new twist in death of Halifax Walmart worker, 19, who was 'baked to death' in industrial oven
By Brittany Chain For Dailymail.Com

Article | Archive



A Walmart store's walk-in oven where a 19 year-old woman died in horrific circumstances was not lockable, sources claim.

Canada's national broadcaster CBC News said their sources had told them the appliance at the Halifax store 'did not lock.'

That raises disturbing new questions about the October 19 death, with previous reports highlighting a 911 call that said the woman was trapped in the oven.

The victim, who has not been named, emigrated from India to Canada around three years ago. Police continue to investigate, but there is not yet any suggestion the woman fell victim to foul play.

-

Mourners have been arriving at the superstore in droves since the tragedy, laying flowers and paying tribute to the victim and her family.

Conspiracy theories about what happened to her have swept the internet, alongside unverified reports of her identity.

But investigators have urged people not to speculate, while the victim's family have asked for privacy.

The young woman had only arrived in Canada within the last three years and had formed close bonds with the Maritime Sikh Society.

'It's pretty distressing given young people come here with hopes and dreams,' board member Satnam Singh Randhawa said.

'They're working hard and this is what happens.'

-

The oven was industrial and large enough for a person to step inside.

Police told the publication that the young woman had been working the day of the tragedy. Officers are no longer on the scene, but an investigation is still ongoing.

The Nova Scotia Department of Labour has since issued a 'stop work order' for the bakery itself, as well as one piece of Walmart equipment. They have not specified which piece of equipment is under that order.

Balbir Singh, secretary of the Maritime Sikh Society, said the victim's mother is also in Canada, and is receiving 'psychological counselling.'

'Efforts are underway to bring other immediate family members from India,' he said.

Singh expects a religious service to be held in Halifax after the woman's body is released by the medical examiner, who is still determining her official cause of death.

Distressing audio of the emergency services dispatch call has since been released, detailing the unfolding tragedy to first responders.

The dispatch officer said there was a 'female locked in an oven in the bakery.'

'Oven is on. Unsure if staff are able to turn it off.'

-

By the time first responders arrived on the scene, they told dispatch the woman 'was out of the oven.'

She died at the scene.

Martin Cromwell, a police officer in Halifax, described the investigation was 'complex.'

He said: 'We understand the public is involved, and we just wanted to encourage the public to be patient with our investigation and be mindful that there are family members and coworkers involved.'

Walmart Canada said they were 'heartbroken and our deepest thoughts are with our associate and their family. We extend our sincerest condolences to those who were closest to them.'

Staff rostered on to work this week will still be paid despite store closures. The store will remain closed until further notice.

The statement continued: 'We're also supporting our associates during this incredibly difficult time and have provided access to 24/7 virtual care and will provide on-site support, including grief counselling.'

Halifax Regional Police said: 'On October 19 at approximately 9:30 pm police were called to a sudden death at Walmart located at 6990 Mumford Road [A]. A 19-year-old woman employed at the store was found deceased.

'Investigators are working closely with Occupational Health and Safety and the Nova Scotia Medical Examiner Service to determine the cause and manner of death.

'The investigation is in the early stages no further details are available at this time.'

 

[Kiwisee]

Apparently the oven in that specific Walmart does NOT lock, and apparently she was already out of the oven by the time first responders got there.

Every time I think that this could’ve been a case of gross incompetence, something comes up to give more credence to the homicide theory.

I like how these sources keep saying “don’t speculate”, but it’s kind of hard not to with more details coming out. Knowing that it doesn’t lock makes me think that she was deliberately being kept there.

Never underestimate how dumb and malicious Jeets get whenever they’re rebuffed by girls.

 

[PhoBingas]

Apparently the oven in that specific Walmart does NOT lock, and apparently she was already out of the oven by the time first responders got there.

Bits and pieces of that article were posted before, but none had that little tidbit about the oven not being able to lock.
Not sure if it's true, or someone just trying to run cover for that Wal mart. This case just keeps getting weirder.

 

[Judgment Boy]

Every time I think that this could’ve been a case of gross incompetence, something comes up to give more credence to the homicide theory.

I like how these sources keep saying “don’t speculate”, but it’s kind of hard not to with more details coming out. Knowing that it doesn’t lock makes me think that she was deliberately being kept there.

Never underestimate how dumb and malicious Jeets get whenever they’re rebuffed by girls.

Tbh the weirder thing to me is how she was apparently already pulled out from the oven by the time the cops and/or EMS got there. That plus some of the "first hand accounts" saying they didn't hear any screaming or ruckus makes it seem like she at the very least wasn't conscious. But it's hard to say what's really true or false in this mess.

 

[Atypical Dog]

I say this as someone who comes from a state that labels its inhabits "Michiganders."

Casually misgendering all of the Michigeese.

Many women help men in honour killings. In Ottawa, there was an infamous honour killing among an Afghan immigrant family and IIRC, female relatives helped kill the victims. In BC, a Pajeeta (Jaswinder Kaur Sidhu) went back to India to marry the wrong clan so the mother became the mastermind of the plan that killed her daughter.

If this was an honour killing, I wouldn't be shocked if the mother or some female relative were also involved.

Misery loves company.

 

[A Sentient Cloud]

Easy to forget how much of this is rumormongering. Maybe the murderer thought that the heat of the oven would kill any DNA evidence?

"Multiple partner agencies" i.e. police departments in other cities. They're searching houses and looking for people.

I was skeptical about the reports of screaming etc. from the beginning. Like someone else said, it's too Stephen King, reeks of the sort of horror movie bullshit people like to dream up in the absence of other information.

The emergency dispatcher reported her being trapped in the oven, but she's just repeating what she was told by the caller, who may have been relaying the information secondhand themselves. "I found her in the oven and it was turned on" could easily turn into "Someone is trapped in the oven, and it is on" through a game of (literal) telephone.

 

[Behavioral Sink]

My friend who works there liked a link to this GFM, and it looks reasonably legit:

https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-the-family-of-gursimran-who-lost-her-life-at-walmart

Archive: https://archive.ph/HWvIT

Gursimran Kaur was only 19 years old, a young beautiful girl who came to Canada with big dreams. On Oct 19th, the fateful Saturday night, she was found burned to death in the walk-in oven at Walmart Bakery situated at Mumford Road, Halifax.
Gursimran and her mother both worked at Walmart for last two years. In that evening, like any watchful mother who breathes for her child's happiness, Gursimran's mother tried to locate her after not seeing for one hour. She asked around, but everyone brushed aside thinking that she may be somewhere helping a customer, Walmart is a superstore after all!. Her phone was not reachable.
Mother started panicking as it was unusual for her to switch her phone off during the day. She reached out to the onsite admin for help. As you all know now, her charred remains were found inside the walk in oven in the Bakery after a few hours
Imagine the horror that her mother experienced who herself opened the oven, when someone pointed out to the 'leakage' from it!
Police is investigating the case so we can not share any more details
Both, Gursimran's father and brother are in India and we are trying to get them here as soon as possible. This family's sufferings are unimaginable and indescribable. They need your support to get through this horrific time.
Please donate to help this family in this difficult time.

The info about the father tracks with what the school crossing guard told me this morning.

It also fits with other bits of rumour: the blood / "leakage", and mom being the one to find her after not hearing from her in a few hours.

I think the screams that people heard, were the mother's when she found her. The reports of screams were secondhand. There have been zero eyewitness accounts from inside the bakery. There's a direct customer account on reddit of the store closing early for the emergency, but not hearing any ruckus from the front of store. But the other bits are all third-hand, "I heard it from so and so, whose kid works there on another shift."

So...

I think the "spurned advances" murder theory is definitely in the lead.

Baking would be long done for the day by evening, according to everyone who knows the store. So there was no tripping into the running oven. She was put in there. It was turned on.

Mom found her. Screamed. Others came, but people froze and panicked and didn't know what to do to turn it off, was because everyone knew it was too late anyway. And it was too horrifying to process, or react to. They called for "rescue" because there's a cognitive dissonance. You want it to be possible.

I think people put together the ideas that employees "watched her burn" plus "screaming". But it was framed by the presumption of accident. When you presume it was a murder, it makes sense that they saw her burning-- but it wasn't alive like people thought. The screams were moms afterward.

ETA: local Sikh community members sharing the link as well, so it shows all signs of being a legit GFM by the gurdwara they attend.

 

[Pipit]

The Nova Scotia Department of Labour has since issued a 'stop work order' for the bakery itself, as well as one piece of Walmart equipment. They have not specified which piece of equipment is under that order.

@Judgment Boy This is interesting, I haven’t seen anyone pick up on this. I wonder what the other equipment is, and if it was directly involved in the death?
This certainly implies there was more involved than just the bakery/oven.

 

[The Gunt Whisperer]

It also fits with other bits of rumour: the blood / "leakage", and mom being the one to find her after not hearing from her in a few hours.

Jesus that’s horrible.

Reminiscent of the Tess Richey murder.

 

[Judgment Boy]

@Judgment Boy This is interesting, I haven’t seen anyone pick up on this. I wonder what the other equipment is, and if it was directly involved in the death?
This certainly implies there was more involved than just the bakery/oven.

Think it might just be the oven and was worded/written awkwardly. Notice how it doesn't say "the oven and a piece of equipment", doesn't even mention the oven in that statement, and only specifies the stop work order is for the bakery department. But it could also be about an additional piece of equipment either in the bakery or somewhere else, and still be just as poorly worded.

Good ol' Daily Mail. Purposely writing stuff as badly as possible is a feature, not a bug.

 

[Kiwisee]

It also fits with other bits of rumour: the blood / "leakage", and mom being the one to find her after not hearing from her in a few hours.

I think the screams that people heard, were the mother's when she found her. The reports of screams were secondhand. There have been zero eyewitness accounts from inside the bakery. There's a direct customer account on reddit of the store closing early for the emergency, but not hearing any ruckus from the front of store. But the other bits are all third-hand, "I heard it from so and so, whose kid works there on another shift."

So...

I think the "spurned advances" murder theory is definitely in the lead.

I wonder if the leakage happened while she was in the oven or if she was killed by some sort of blunt force trauma, and the murderer was using the oven in an attempt to hide the evidence.

Makes sense that the police are telling everyone involved to be tight lipped about this. Hopefully the police catch whoever is involved (assuming the killer is a Jeet that doesn’t just flee the country).

 

[Dumbledore's Onlyfans]

I wonder if the leakage happened while she was in the oven or if she was killed by some sort of blunt force trauma, and the murderer was using the oven in an attempt to hide the evidence.

Makes sense that the police are telling everyone involved to be tight lipped about this. Hopefully the police catch whoever is involved (assuming the killer is a Jeet that doesn’t just flee the country).

When you cook a roast, it's normal for juices and melted fats to seep out into the bottom of the pan. If you didn't use a pan, it would make a real mess out of the bottom of your oven, just sayin

 

[Kiwisee]

When you cook a roast, it's normal for juices and melted fats to seep out into the bottom of the pan. If you didn't use a pan, it would make a real mess out of the bottom of your oven, just sayin

So she’s been in there for hours, more likely than not.

Either way, at this stage I think anything is possible with how/why she was in there.