Woman's death at Halifax Walmart ruled not suspicious

Police have confirmed that the death of a 19-year-old girl at a Walmart in Halifax, NS, is not considered suspicious.

Halifax Police said no evidence of foul play was found after investigating the tragic death of Gursimran Kaur, a Walmart employee who was found dead inside a walk-in oven in the bakery department on the night of Oct. 19, 2024.

“Investigators met with family to share this update and extend condolences,” said the Halifax Police. “Our thoughts remain with them at this difficult time.”

“The family asks the public to respect their privacy and the dignity and memory of their loved one, as they receive this news.”

In a statement provided to NowMedia, Walmart confirmed that the store remains closed until further notice, and that the oven has been removed.

“This is an extremely sad and difficult situation,” the company said.

“Removing the oven had always been part of the standard remodel program we are implementing across the country. Now that the stop-work order has been lifted by the Department of Labour, the oven will be removed from this store and will no longer be used.”

A GoFundMe was started by the Maritime Sikh Society for the family of Gursimran, who worked at the Walmart store alongside her mother.

The society said that on Oct. 19, 2024, both mother and daughter were working at the store, when Kaur’s mother began to worry about her after not seeing her for an hour and not being able to reach her phone.

Onsite admin were contacted, and Kaur was found inside the oven a short time later.

After bringing in $194,949, the society closed it to donations, saying that the process of distributing the funds to her family has begun.

The society wrote that while Kaur’s mother worked at the Walmart alongside her for the last two years, her father and brother live in India. The funds will enable them to travel to Canada.