A group of young people who saw Harpreet Singh Sandhu gunned down in East Vancouver earlier this year are being told they must come forward, or be considered co-conspirators in the murder.

Sandhu was shot in the back in the 6900-block of Arlington Street on July 25. Police say he and two friends were in an altercation with a group of youths when a gun was produced.

The 21-year-old was fired at while running to his car.

More than three months after his death, Sandhu's killer is still at large. Vancouver police held a press conference Friday at the scene of his slaying, where Insp. Brad Desmarais offered witnesses one last chance to contact police.

"There are a number of people that were with the killer that night," Desmarais said. "They should do the right thing and come forward, because if they don't, this is their last chance; we are going to be looking at them as suspects as opposed to witnesses."

"We're not going to relent until this one is solved," he added. "We're so close now, we're not going to back down. We're going to keep going."

Sandhu first arrived in the area alone the night he was killed. After getting into a verbal confrontation with a group of young people, he left the scene.

"Tragically, [Sandhu] made the decision to return a short time later with two friends, and things escalated quickly," Desmarais said.

The young man had no criminal record.

Sandhu's uncle Lak Chahal gave an emotional statement Friday on behalf of his grieving family.

"Harpreet was a good kid. I just want to make it clear that this had nothing to do with drugs or gangs," he said. "The whole family, we were totally devastated. I can't explain in words how bad what we're going through [is]."

"Harpreet had many hopes and dreams and he was really looking forward to life, and this was totally stolen from him and we will never see him again."

The deceased's mother has been experiencing panic attacks and sleepless nights, he added.

"Please help us. Please help us find the killers and bring justice to Harpreet, and hopefully bring some closure to us as well," Chahal said.

Anyone with information on the shooting is asked to call Vancouver police at 604-717-2500 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 if they wish to remain anonymous.