KimberPB
New member
Its a shame that noone had a means of protecting themselves! Sounds like acouple were killed execution style! Scary.
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LAKE ALFRED - The Polk County Sheriff's Office is eager to find the man who killed two recently arrived Indian immigrants in cold blood during the failed Friday night robbery of a BP gas station and store where they were working at Interstate 4 and State Road 557.
At a news conference Saturday, Sheriff Grady Judd announced a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.
Because the killer targeted a store just off Interstate 4 with no nearby residential community, Judd said his detectives have little to go on in tracking down a violent and ruthless man.
"What worries us is that this happened right on the I-4 corridor," Judd said. "It's likely that the killer approached and fled from the store via vehicle on I-4, and could be headed anywhere from St. Petersburg to Daytona Beach or beyond.
"He will rob again, and he will murder again," Judd said.
The employees have been identified as Pravinkumar Chimanbha Patel, 27, and Dashrath Patel, age unknown. Pravinkumar Patel was visiting from New Jersey and had only been in the area for two days. Dashrath Patel had been in the area for 10 months.
Detectives think neither man has family in the United States. Most of their family is in India, Judd said.
The sheriff's office described the shooter as a man with a stocky build and dark clothing.
According to the sheriff's office, the store had closed for the night when a man walked up to the locked door and started shaking it. The clerk, Prakashkumar Patel, who was inside, told the man the store was closed.
The man pulled a handgun from his waistband and fired a shot through the glass door.
The clerk hid under the counter, called 911 and activated the alarm. The man then ran toward two employees who were outside changing the store's sign and killed both, the sheriff's office said. Each had gunshot wounds to the head, Judd said. How many times they were shot was unclear.
A surveillance photo caught an image of one of the victims with his hands in the air, Judd said, indicating the killer subdued them before shooting.
"I can't understand why he didn't bring them back to the front of the store" rather than killing them, Judd said, noting the man then went back to the store to try again to enter.
He finally left and surveillance video caught him running away, but his face was at least partially concealed. Judd said the store's location makes it a virtual certainty that the man arrived and fled in a vehicle on I-4. "This is not a store you walk to to rob," he said.
And that makes it likely the man had an accomplice, Judd said.
Detectives are hoping to speak with anyone in a vehicle that was seen gassing up at the station just before the 9 p.m. robbery.
Anyone with information can contact the sheriff's office at (863) 534-6631. Tips can be made anonymously at 1-800-226-TIPS.
Reporter Billy Townsend can be reached at (863) 284-1409 or [email protected].
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LAKE ALFRED - The Polk County Sheriff's Office is eager to find the man who killed two recently arrived Indian immigrants in cold blood during the failed Friday night robbery of a BP gas station and store where they were working at Interstate 4 and State Road 557.
At a news conference Saturday, Sheriff Grady Judd announced a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.
Because the killer targeted a store just off Interstate 4 with no nearby residential community, Judd said his detectives have little to go on in tracking down a violent and ruthless man.
"What worries us is that this happened right on the I-4 corridor," Judd said. "It's likely that the killer approached and fled from the store via vehicle on I-4, and could be headed anywhere from St. Petersburg to Daytona Beach or beyond.
"He will rob again, and he will murder again," Judd said.
The employees have been identified as Pravinkumar Chimanbha Patel, 27, and Dashrath Patel, age unknown. Pravinkumar Patel was visiting from New Jersey and had only been in the area for two days. Dashrath Patel had been in the area for 10 months.
Detectives think neither man has family in the United States. Most of their family is in India, Judd said.
The sheriff's office described the shooter as a man with a stocky build and dark clothing.
According to the sheriff's office, the store had closed for the night when a man walked up to the locked door and started shaking it. The clerk, Prakashkumar Patel, who was inside, told the man the store was closed.
The man pulled a handgun from his waistband and fired a shot through the glass door.
The clerk hid under the counter, called 911 and activated the alarm. The man then ran toward two employees who were outside changing the store's sign and killed both, the sheriff's office said. Each had gunshot wounds to the head, Judd said. How many times they were shot was unclear.
A surveillance photo caught an image of one of the victims with his hands in the air, Judd said, indicating the killer subdued them before shooting.
"I can't understand why he didn't bring them back to the front of the store" rather than killing them, Judd said, noting the man then went back to the store to try again to enter.
He finally left and surveillance video caught him running away, but his face was at least partially concealed. Judd said the store's location makes it a virtual certainty that the man arrived and fled in a vehicle on I-4. "This is not a store you walk to to rob," he said.
And that makes it likely the man had an accomplice, Judd said.
Detectives are hoping to speak with anyone in a vehicle that was seen gassing up at the station just before the 9 p.m. robbery.
Anyone with information can contact the sheriff's office at (863) 534-6631. Tips can be made anonymously at 1-800-226-TIPS.
Reporter Billy Townsend can be reached at (863) 284-1409 or [email protected].