SURAT: Rakesh Ehagaban-Patel (51), originally from Rayam village near Bardoli, in Gujarat’s Surat district, was shot dead outside the motel where he worked as a manager in Robinson Township, Pittsburgh. He was responding to a disturbance when he was shot on Friday.It is the second killing in the past month of an Indian-origin person at a motel in the US. On Sept 10, Chandra Mouli “Bob” Nagamallaiah (50) was beheaded at the Downtown Suites motel that he managed in Dallas. That motel is managed by a family originally from Khoj village, Surat district.According to media reports, Rakesh had gone out to inquire about gunshots when Stanley Eugene West, 37, approached him. CCTV footage shows West walking up to Rakesh and shooting him in the head at point-blank range. He had reportedly asked West, “Are you all right, bud?” Before shooting Rakesh, West had allegedly shot a woman in the neck outside the motel. They had been living in the motel for the past few days.West was later injured in a gunfight with police and taken to a hospital in critical condition. A detective was also injured in the gunfight and had to be hospitalised. The woman, the other victim in the shooting incident, was also hospitalised in critical condition. “The family had shifted almost three decades ago. They have settled in the US and most of their close relatives have also shifted,” said Kiran Patel, who knows the family.
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