New York: An Indian-origin man was killed earlier this week after he got caught in a crossfire outside a motel in Tennessee, United States. This is the fifith time an Indian is getting killed in the US since February.
The 56-year-old man, Khandu Patel, worked as a housekeeper at Americas Best Value Inn and Suites in Whitehaven, according to Fox13Memphis reports.
Patel was reportedly killed on Monday, after 30 shots were fired in the area. According to the investigators, one of the bullets hit Patel, as he was standing at the back of the motel.
Patel, father of two, was rushed to the Regional Medical Center, where he was later declared dead. Investigators have found no information on Patel’s killers yet.
Patel had been working in the motel for about right months, and his wife and children lived in the same motel with him, International Business Times reported.
“He finished his days’ work and was out walking around the property. Next thing you know he hears some gunshots flying around and one caught him in the chest,” Jay Patel, the victim’s nephew, was quoted as saying by the report.
“He didn’t even make it to the hospital to be saved.”
Patel’s nephew added that his family was ready to shift to another location for a new job.
“He was ready to get out of there,” said Jay Patel. “Just trying to put food on the table so he had to take what he had at the time.”
Reports state the authorities have put up flyers all over the motel asking for information about the killer. The flyer mentions there is a Crime Stoppers award for anyone who assists the officials in finding the assailant.
Two Indian engineers were attacked in Kansas on last February 22. A US Navy veteran opened fire on the duo killing one of them, Srinivas Kuchibhotla, at the spot. The attacker had shouted “get out of my country” before firing.
A 43-year-old Indian-origin store owner, Harnish Patel, was shot dead in early March in the front yard of his home in Lancaster, South Carolina. Later that month, Sasikala Narra, aged 38, and her son Anish Narra, aged 6, were found dead inside their apartment in New Jersey.