Washington: In a tragic incident, a 36-year-old Indian-origin man was shot dead by a teenager after the latter robbed a convenience store in the US State of North Carolina, according to authorities. The victim was identified as Mainank Patel, the owner of the Tobacco House store at 2580 Airport Road, while the suspect has been arrested.
The incident took place on Tuesday morning and the juvenile has been kept in custody, according to Rowan County Sheriff’s Office. Details about the suspect's identity has not been released as he is underage. No additional details have been released so far.
Deputies initially responded to the Tobacco House convenience store in response to a 911 hang-up call, said Captain Mark McDaniel, public information officer for the Rowan County Sheriff’s Office. They received communications about a shooting on the way and found Patel with multiple gunshot wounds at the scene.
The victim was taken to Novant Health Rowan Medical Center and then transported to Presbyterian Hospital in Charlotte, where he died as a result of his injuries. Security footage showed a tall, slender white male wearing black shorts, a black hoodie, a black ski mask and white Nike tennis shoes with burgundy logos running across the store parking lot with what appeared to be a black handgun in his hand, said McDaniel.
McDaniel said that the sheriff’s office is not certain of the motive in the shooting, but that it currently appears to have been a robbery. No one else was injured.
Patel is survived by his seven-and-a-half-month pregnant wife, Ami, and their 5-year-old daughter. The Indian community is mourning his death and it was clear by the flowers and cards outside his store Tobacco House on Wednesday that he was loved by customers and workers, according to local media reports. He was lovingly called 'Mike'.
Javier Lopez has been cutting the grass at the store for years, even before Patel took over from his cousin, and the Patel family treated everyone like family. “There are just no words to describe how great a guy Mike was,” Lopez said. “He was a super good man, good to his customers, loved his family and would have helped anyone,” said Patricia Howard, another regular customer.
Since the beginning of 2024, there have been at least a dozen deaths of Indian and Indian-origin students in the US. The alarming rise in the number of attacks has caused concern among the community. The series of attacks on Indians and Indian origin persons/students had prompted the officials of the Indian Embassy in Washington and its consulates at various places to hold a virtual interaction with Indian students from across the US, discussing various aspects of student well-being and ways to stay connected with the larger diaspora.
(with PTI inputs)
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