Indian-origin man Harnish Patel shot dead in US merely days after Kansas shooting

Patel is survived by his wife and child in elementary school, who were at home when he was killed.

NEW YORK: Days after the Kansas Bar shooting incident, another Indian-origin businessman, Harnish Patel, has been shot dead outside his home in South Carolina, media reports said.

As per a media report, Patel, 43, of 262 Craig Manor Road, Lancaster, was found dead outside his house in Lancaster, shortly after he closed his shop at 11.24 pm on Thursday. Patel is survived by his wife and child in elementary school, who were at home when he was killed.

Reportedly, the police was informed about the incident by a woman who heard screaming and gunshots. When the police arrived, they found Patel dead from apparent gunshot wounds a few feet from his house, a media report said.

Patel’s death comes just two days after the United States President Donald Trump condemned the killing of Srinivas Kuchibhotla, 32, as “hate and evil”. He was shot dead on Wednesday in a Kansas bar.

According to a report, the police was quoted as saying that the investigators believe that Patel was confronted by his killer when he got out of the vehicle while he was on his way back home from the store.

As per a tweet, Lancaster Sheriff Barry Faile said that Harnish Patel was shot twice. The tweet further states that two shell casings were found outside his home.

If local officials in Lancaster are to be believed, Patel’s killing is not a result of hate crime. “I don’t have any reason to believe that this was racially motivated,” County Sheriff Barry Faile said on Friday.

As per a TV channel in the US, a lot of anger over the killing of Patel is among the people. Patel was considered an important member of the community and a kind person.

Earlier on February 22, Kuchibhotla was shot dead by a man screaming, “Get out of my country” at a bar in Kansas. Another Indian Alok Madasani, who was with the victim at a bar, and an American, Ian Grillot, who tried to stop the shooting, were injured in the shooting.

Adam Purinton, a white and a former Navy SEAL was arrested and charged with murder. He had reportedly said that he had shot two Iranians after shooting the Indians. The hate crime was condemned by leaders in both the US and India.

Recently on March 2, an Indian-origin girl, in her Facebook post, shared an incident happened to her in train in New York when she became the target of abusive and racist comments. In the video shared by the victim, a man is seen hurling racist slurs at her. According to Ekta Desai, an Indian-origin girl, she was travelling in a train when a man started abusing her and passed racist comments.

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