An Indian-origin motel manager was shot dead at point-blank range in Pittsburgh, United States, on Friday, marking the second killing of an Indian national in the country within a week.
Fifty-one-year-old Rakesh Ehagaban, who managed the Pittsburgh Motel in Robinson Township, was shot in the head after he stepped outside to check on a disturbance.
According to a criminal complaint cited in local media, the suspect, Stanley Eugene West, 37, opened fire on Ehagaban when he attempted to intervene in an alleged dispute outside the motel.
Surveillance footage from the motel captured the incident.
The video reportedly showed Ehagaban stepping out after hearing commotion and asking a man holding a gun, “Are you alright, bud?”
The suspect then walked towards him, raised his firearm, and shot him in the head, killing him on the spot, Trib Live reported, quoting the police complaint.
Police said that prior to shooting Ehagaban, West had also shot a woman outside the motel.
The woman, who had been staying at the Pittsburgh Motel for the past two weeks with a child, was attempting to drive away in her black sedan when West approached her vehicle and opened fire, hitting her in the neck. The child, who was seated in the back, was unharmed.
The incident drew Ehagaban outside the motel, where he confronted the gunman and was fatally shot.
After killing the motel manager, West reportedly walked to a moving van parked next to the sedan and drove away.
The injured woman managed to drive to an automobile service centre, where police found her and took her to a hospital in critical condition.
Investigators later tracked West’s van using licence plate reading cameras. When police approached him in the East Hills area of Pittsburgh, he opened fire.
Officers returned fire, injuring West and a Pittsburgh detective. Both were hospitalised, with West in critical condition.
Allegheny County Police Superintendent Christopher Kearns said West has been charged with criminal homicide, attempted homicide, and recklessly endangering another person.
The recent spate of attacks has sparked growing concern within the Indian diaspora over the safety of Indian nationals in the United States.
In the past month alone, multiple violent incidents involving Indians have been reported across different states, pointing to a worrying trend.
The fatal shooting of Ehagaban follows another killing involving an Indian national in Texas.
Chandrashekar Pole, a 27-year-old student from Hyderabad, was shot dead during a part-time shift at a gas station in Denton, Texas, on Friday night.
His family confirmed the incident on Saturday.
Pole had moved to the United States in 2023 after completing his bachelor’s in dental surgery in Hyderabad.
Earlier on September 10, Chandra Mouli Nagamallaiah, an Indian national living in the United States, was beheaded by his employee, Cobos-Martinez, following a dispute over a broken washing machine.
The 37-year-old accused has been arrested and charged with capital murder.