Motive unclear.
By Raif Karerat
WASHINGTON, DC: Mere days after 57-year-old Sureshbhai Patel was paralyzed during an unprovoked display of police brutality in Alabama, another member of the South Asian community has been attacked — albeit with fatal consequences this time around.
Indian American liquor shopkeeper Amit Patel, 28, was gunned down from close range by an unidentified assailant while alone at the front of his family’s liquor store in Essex County, New Jersey on February 15.
When police arrived at the store circa 4 p.m., they found Patel injured from a single gunshot wound. He was later pronounced dead at the scene, acting Essex county prosecutor Carolyn A Murray and acting Irvington police director Musa Malik said in a joint statement.
Family friends told the Press Trust of India that Amit’s father, who owns the liquor store, was in the back office when the shooting took place.
“Somebody came in, shot him… fell down here,” family friend Rakesh Patel said.
“We don’t know if it was a robbery, nobody knows. They were alone here,” Bimal Patel, another friend, was quoted as saying by NJ.com. “He was a nice guy. I don’t know what happened. Everybody’s nervous,” he continued.
Amit is survived by his wife. The couple had been married for one year.
Police are still seeking a motive for the homicide since nothing was purloined and the store was left undamaged during the deadly attack.
No arrests have been made thus far but police state the closed-circuit camera footage will be examined for any leads in the ongoing investigation.
1 Comment
They both lacked white privilege