More than 200 people attend midnight for clerk shot dead in Macon.
AB Wire
The Indian clerk Prakash Patel, who was gunned down mercilessly by two unidentified men at a convenience store in Macon, Georgia, Saturday, was the fourth Indian-origin clerk all with the last name of Patel, to be shot dead since 2009 in the state.
Prakash Patel’s slaying comes about six years after a spate of fatal armed robberies at mid-state convenience stores. More than 600 people marched in downtown Macon, calling for peace and safety after three store clerks were killed that summer in Bibb County and Milledgeville, reported The Telegraph.
Dilipbhai “Danny” Patel, 51, was shot to death during a botched robbery July 15, 2009, at the Lina Food Store in Haddock, just outside of Milledgeville. A few months later on August 30, 29-year-old Dipak Patel was fatally shot by a man toting a rifle at the Chevron at 1257 Riverside Drive. On September 4, 2009, 26-year-old Jaymal Patel, of Sandersville, was fatally shot and robbed while waiting for his brother to get off work at the RaceWay gas station at 5127 Mercer University Drive.
More than 200 people came to pay respects to Prakash Patel and his family at a candlelight vigil Wednesday night at the store, near Williamson and Bloomfield roads, where cars and people filled up the small parking lot, reported the Telegraph.
“This is a senseless and savage way to die for someone just doing their job,” Sheriff David Davis said. “If these individuals would have asked, I’m sure Mr. Patel would have helped them any way he could.”
Davis said the sheriff’s office is still working to solve the case.
“Somebody knows who went into this store and savagely murdered Mr. Patel,” the sheriff said.
Patel was shot multiple times and killed at work Saturday morning by a pair of gunmen who’ve yet to be identified. The men fired shots at another clerk and made away with about $300, according to an incident report from the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office.
Store manager Ray Patel, who said he is not kin to Prakash Patel, came outside the store for the vigil.
“He was just a nice person, ya know?” 38-year-old Ray Patel said. “Everybody knows him. Everybody knows us too. I’d rather not talk about it. … We have the funeral (Thursday), so it’s a really hard time right now.”