“It hit everybody because this was a family"
A US Indian man was shot and killed during a robbery at his convenience store in North Carolina.
Mainank Patel, the owner of Tobacco House at 2580 Airport Road, was attacked on the morning of August 13, 2024.
A teenage boy was been taken into custody, having been arrested that evening.
Captain Mark McDaniel, public information officer for the Rowan County Sheriff’s Office, explained that deputies initially responded to a 911 hang-up call from the Tobacco House store.
En route, they received information about a shooting.
Upon arrival, deputies found Mr Patel with several gunshot wounds.
He was taken to Novant Health Rowan Medical Centre and later transferred to Presbyterian Hospital in Charlotte, where he died.
Security footage showed a tall, slender white male fleeing the scene, dressed in black shorts, a black hoodie, a black ski mask, and white Nike trainers with burgundy logos. He appeared to be carrying a black handgun.
While the exact motive remains unclear, the sheriff’s office believes the incident was likely a robbery. No one else was injured in the attack.
Mr Patel leaves behind a pregnant wife, Ami, and their five-year-old daughter.
The community fondly knew the US Indian man as ‘Mike’ and placed flowers and cards outside his store.
Customers and workers said Mr Patel would do just about anything for anybody.
Ann Ellis, who was a regular customer, said:
“It hit everybody because this was a family, this was a community family store.”
Javier Lopez had been maintaining the store’s lawn for years, even before Mr Patel took over from his cousin.
Mr Lopez said the Patel family “treated everyone like family”.
He added: “I just saw him yesterday morning, and on my way home from work, I saw the police and stopped to see what had happened.
“There are just no words to describe how great a guy Mike was.”
Patricia Howard, another regular customer, said:
“He was a super good man, good to his customers, loved his family and would have helped anyone.”
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.
In June 2024, a motel manager in Oklahoma died after being punched in the face.
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