Prakash Patel was a beloved member of the community.
AB Wire
An Indian man working as a clerk in a convenience store in Macon, Georgia, Prakash Patel, was shot dead in an armed robbery early morning Saturday by two unidentified males.
Less than three hours before Patel, 40, was gunned down, his suspected killers allegedly carjacked a vehicle at another store, reported The Telegraph.
Patel who worked at the Gary Food Mart is being remembered as a kind hearted man, who helped customers with his own money at times.
“I always called him ‘Boo,’ and he plays a lot,” said Chelle Brown, 26, who drove up to the store with her mother after dawn, the Telegraph reported. “My friend said, ‘You’re crying like you’re married to him,’ but good people are hard to find and when you find a good-hearted person, you hold onto him.”
Surveillance images show two men, bent over, pointing guns toward the counter, likely where Prakash Patel was working in the fairly new building. Another photo shows the back side of one of the men, bent over, picking up what looks like cash, while exposing nearly all of his reddish boxer shorts.
Patel was wounded in the chest about 1:25 a.m. at the store and Sunoco Gas Station at at 3306 Bloomfield Drive, Bibb County Coroner Leon Jones said. He was pronounced dead at Medical Center, Navicent Health at 2:16 a.m.
Other people were in the store, but no one else was injured, according to a sheriff’s news release.
One of the robbers had a silver handgun and the other carried a sawed-off shotgun as they robbed the store, according to a sheriff’s news release. The man with the handgun jumped over the counter while the other held the shotgun on Patel, the news release stated. One of them shot Patel before leaving the store.
“When I found out it was him, I’ve just been crying,” Brown said. “How can you kill someone with such a good heart. … God, really, is it worth it for a couple of dollars? … You don’t have to kill nobody, especially nobody like him. When that man do anything to help.”
Brown said that when she was short of cash and trying to buy bread or juice for her kids, Patel would reach into his own pockets and make up the difference until she would pay him back.
Another lady drove up to the store, which was surrounded with yellow crime scene tape.
“Those are my friends in that store,” said the lady who did not want to be identified. “They didn’t have to kill the man. That’s just sad.”
NBC News reported a vigil will be held this week to honor Patel.
Two community members reached out to Patel’s family after hearing the news. They told 41NBC they wanted to show the family they are not alone during this time.
News reports from India said parents of Patel will approach the US consulate in Mumbai to get visa for performing last rites of Patel.
Patel’s family, including his parents Ratilal and Shardaben, lives at Ashok Apartment in Ghatlodia. While Patel’s parents were unavailable for comment, Dipak Patel, a close relative, told the Times of India that there has been no contact with Prakash’s wife in the US, and they are trying desperately to get all information possible.