Jagjeet Singh was the fourth Indian American to be killed since Wednesday night in three separate incidents.
A 32-year-old Indian American, who was stabbed by an unidentified man on Thursday night while closing a grocery shop in Modesto, California, succumbed to his injuries in the hospital on Friday.
The victim, Jagjeet Singh, who was a clerk at the store, reportedly had an altercation with one of the customers who came to buy cigarettes on Thursday. Singh reportedly asked the customer to show a valid ID proof and the one produced before him was found to be fake. The customer left the shop after exchanging a few heated words.
Later, on the same day, when Singh was about to close the store, an unidentified man stabbed him, leaving him critically wounded. He was soon rushed to the hospital where he struggled for his life for nine hours before finally succumbing to his injuries.
He was the fourth Indian American to be killed since Wednesday night in three separate incidents.
On Wednesday night, Juniper executive Naren Prabhu and his wife, Raynah, were gunned down at their home in San Jose by an ex-boyfriend of their daughter.
On Thursday, Ramesh Kumar, a 32-year-old Indian American physician, was found dead in the passenger seat of his car on a highway near Detroit.
According to Hindustan Times, Singh came to the US a year and a half ago and stayed with his sister and brother-in-law in Modesto.
He is survived by his wife, Kuljeet Kaur, and two sons – Ishmeet Singh (9) and Dilpreet Singh (7) – who live in Kapurthala, Punjab.
His relatives in India told paper that Singh left for the US to support his family and that he was a “kind-hearted” and hardworking person. He apparently took a loan from relatives for funding his travel to the US.
Police are yet to determine the motive behind the attack and there is no official word about the killer.
“Paramedics responded because an employee had collapsed and they thought this to be a medical issue,” said Officer Eric Schuller with Modesto police to Fox40. “When they arrived on scene they found that this employee has actually been stabbed.”
“We would like the public’s help,” Schuller said. “If there’s anybody out there who heard anything or has heard anything since we would appreciate them to contact the Modesto Police Department so they can help us out here.”
“It’s just a very sad situation what happened to him because nobody deserves that over something so small,” Rodriguez said.
Singh is the six Indian or Indian American killed in attacks at convenient stores and gas stations across the United States in the past two years.