Gujarati Man, Daughter Shot Dead in Their Store in USA

In a heinous crime, two Indians have been shot dead in Virginia, USA. A father and his daughter were shot dead by 44-year-old George David Frazier Wharton inside their department store in Accomack County in Virginia, US. US police have arrested Wharton with charges of first-degree murder, felony and arms laws.

What Happened?

As in a normal day, Pradipkumar Patel (56) and his daughter Urmi Patel (24) opened their department store in Accomack County in Virginia and were manning the store for the day, when Wharton entered. This happened on March 20th.

As per media reports, Wharton went into the store early in the morning at around 5 am. Wharton was buying liquor. He sought to know why the store was closed at night.

He suddenly opened fire at the father-daughter duo. Pradeep Patel died on the spot, while his daughter Urmi succumbed to her injuries at the hospital.

From Gujarat

The store was owned by a relative of the deceased father-father duo, Paresh Patel. Paresh was quoted to have said to media in Virgina as --“My cousin's wife and her dad were working this morning. Some guy came here and just shot (them). I don't know what to do."

Pradeep Patel, his wife Hansaben and their daughter Urmi are from Gujarat's Mehsana district who chose to move to the states six years ago. They had been working at the convenience store owned by their relative, Paresh Patel.

George Frazier Devon Wharton of Onancock was held in Accomack Jail. Reportedly, Wharton was charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, possessing of a firearm by a felon and two counts of use of a firearm while commissioning the felony, as per media reports.

The family

Pradeepkumar Patel’s uncle, Mr. Chandu Patel told to media as--"We knew from local media reports and a viral video that they were shot dead. We spoke to his daughter and she told us everything," he added.  Chandu is a leader of the Kadva Patidar community in Kanoda village in Mehsana in Gujarat.  The Patel family has two more daughters. One of them lives in Canada while the other lives in Ahmedabad.

Second Murder

This follows another murder of an Indian-origin man in North Carolina. Mayank Patel, the 36-year-old Indian-origin man who was running a convenience store in North Carolina was shot dead during a robbery on the premises.