A shocking surveillance video has captured the final moments of Rakesh Ehagaban-Patel, a 51-year-old Gujarati-origin motel manager, who was shot dead at point-blank range outside his property in Pittsburgh, US.
Patel, originally from Rayam village near Bardoli in Gujarat’s Surat district, was responding to gunshots outside the Pittsburgh Motel in Robinson Township on October 3 when he was fatally attacked. The footage shows Patel calmly stepping outside after hearing a disturbance involving a couple in the parking lot. Moments later, he asks the gunman, Stanley Eugene West, “Are you alright, bud?” — before West raises his weapon and shoots him in the head.
According to police, the suspect had been staying at the motel for about two weeks with a woman and a child. Moments before the fatal encounter, West had shot the woman, believed to be his companion, as she sat in her car with the child. The woman, struck in the neck, managed to drive to a nearby auto service center and was rushed to hospital in critical condition. The child was unharmed.
After killing Patel, West walked calmly to a U-Haul van and drove off. Police later tracked him to Pittsburgh’s East Hills neighborhood, where he exchanged gunfire with officers, injuring a detective.
West now faces charges of criminal homicide, attempted homicide, and reckless endangerment.
The tragedy adds to a troubling trend — seven Gujarati-origin individuals have been killed in motel-related crimes across the US this year, according to community data. Gujaratis are estimated to own 60% of the motel business in America.