An Indian national has been shot dead by a masked assailant in Los Angeles with the police saying the suspect entered the grocery store with a semi-automatic handgun with the intent to commit a robbery.
Maninder Singh Sahi, who turned 31 last month, was married and father of two. He was working at a 7-Eleven grocery store in the Whittier City in Los Angeles County of California.
Hailing from Karnal in Haryana, Sahi had arrived in the US less than six months ago and had sought political asylum.
The only earning member of his family, Sahi used to send money to his wife and two children back home, his relatives in the US said.
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According to the Whittier Police Department, the incident occurred at 5.43 am on Saturday.
Preliminarily it appears the suspect entered the store with a semi-automatic handgun with the intent to commit a robbery.
“For unknown reasons the suspect fired the handgun killing the clerk,” the police said releasing a picture of the suspect.
Authorities are still seeking the robber, who got away on foot with an unknown amount of cash.
“The suspect fled the location and is outstanding at this time. There were two customers inside the store, both were uninjured. The suspect is described as a male black adult approximately 506-507. Suspect had his face partially covered and was wearing a dark hoody with a gray hoody underneath,” police said.
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The victim's brother has set up a GoFund Page to raise money so that the body of deceased Maninder could be taken back to India.
"He left behind, his parents, his wife and 2 small children, ages 5 and 9.
"I am seeking assistance to help send his body back to India so his wife and kids can view him one last time,” his brother wrote in Go Fund Me page on Sunday.
"In the short time he was in California, he never argued with anyone and never raised his voice. He quietly did all the work his boss told him and he never complained," the fundraising page says.
The GoFundMe page, created Sunday morning, had raised more than USD 24,000 by Monday.
