Vadodara man shot dead in US by a juvenile attempting robbery at store

An Indian-origin man hailing from Gujarat’s Vadodara was shot dead on August 13 by a juvenile in North Carolina, US, in what the local police department suspects to be a robbery attempt.

The 36-year-old Mainank Patel ran a convenience store in Rowan County, in North Carolina’s Salisbury.

A 911 emergency call was made from the store, which prompted a police team, who were informed of a shooting incident.

They found Patel suffering from multiple wounds and reportedly rushed him to a local health centre. Later, he was also shifted to a hospital.

But Patel succumbed to his injuries. He was pronounced dead around 2.40 am on August 14 (IST), according to a release by the Rowan County Sheriff’s Office.

It had previously released a masked photo of the suspect on August 13 at 9.38 pm (IST), notifying about the shooting incident in the 2500 block of Airport Road.

The suspect was captured in security footage, and the police described him as a “tall white male wearing black shorts, a black hoodie, black ski mask and white Nike sneakers” in the caption.

Later, the police announced at 6.25 am (IST) that they had managed to nab the suspect, but refrained from releasing his name because of him being a juvenile.

Reports suggest that Patel moved to the US in 2007, where he completed his degree in computer science.

Thereafter, he worked as a manager at a convenience store adjacent to a gas station.

Reports added that Patel was survived by his wife and a child in the city, and the couple were expecting their second child when this incident took place.

He was known as ‘Mike’ in his vicinity, which is deeply mourning his tragic death, say reports.