Pittsburgh: Yet another Indian-origin man, a motel manager, was shot dead in the US on Friday. Rakesh Ehagaban (50) was killed after he stepped outside to check on an argument that was going on in the parking lot of the motel at Robinson Township.
Ehagaban was shot in the head at point-blank range and died at the scene, the police said. The accused has been identified as 37-year-old Stanley Eugene West. He has been arrested and charged with criminal homicide, attempted homicide, and recklessly endangering another person.
According to the police, West had been staying at the motel for more than two weeks with a woman and a child.
On Friday, the woman and the child were in a black sedan in the parking lot of the motel when West approached the driver’s side and fired a shot, shattering the window. The woman was injured but managed to drive away. The child was unhurt.
It was after this shooting that Ehagaban stepped out and asked West “Are you alright, bud”. Surveillance footage showed West walking towards him and, as he got within a feet of the motel manager, he raised his gun and shot him in the head.
The police claimed that West was also injured in an encounter with the police after killing Ehagaban. As the police tracked and approached his vehicle, he reportedly opened fire and hit a Pittsburgh detective in the leg. The officers then returned fire, hitting West several times, the police told CBS News.
Ehagaban’s death comes on the same day a dentist from Hyderabad was shot dead by an unidentified gunman at a gas station in Dallas. It also comes weeks after an Indian-origin motel owner was killed by his employee in the US after an argument.
Recently, a woman of Indian origin was shot dead outside her convenience store in the US. A few weeks before that, a youth from Haryana was shot dead in the US after confronting a man who was urinating near the entrance of the shop where he worked.