Nashville, Tennessee: The village of Dingucha in Gandhinagar, already grieving the tragic loss of a family of four who perished while trying to illegally enter the United States in 2022, is once again in mourning. This time, the sorrow comes after a young native was fatally shot during a robbery in the US.
Thirty-year-old Paresh Patel, employed as a store clerk, was gunned down in a violent robbery at the Marathon gas station in Lewisburg, Tennessee, on Tuesday. Authorities from the local police department quickly responded, and a suspect was taken into custody within hours. According to police reports, the suspect posed as a customer before suddenly pulling out a firearm and demanding money. Surveillance video shows Patel complying with the demand, raising his hands while handing over cash from the register. Despite not resisting, he was shot multiple times.
The security footage allegedly captures the assailant firing another shot even after Patel had collapsed behind the counter. The attacker briefly fled, then returned to the scene, checked if Patel was still breathing, and fired once more before escaping. Following the incident, Lewisburg police announced a $10,000 reward for information about the suspect, who was soon identified and apprehended as David Hamilton.
Patel, also known as Prince, had been residing in the US for the past decade with his wife and five-year-old daughter. A fundraising appeal described him as the primary financial support for both his American family and relatives back in Gujarat. Community members remembered him as a kind and familiar face within the neighborhood.
His death marks the fourth fatal shooting of a Gujarati-origin individual in the US linked to robbery this year. Earlier in 2025, a father and daughter, Pradipkumar and Urvi Patel, were shot dead at their store in Accomack County, Virginia. In a separate incident, Pinakin Patel from Vadodara was fatally shot while trying to intervene in a theft at his gas station in Danville, Virginia.
Dingucha gained national attention in January 2022 after four of its residents—Jagdish Patel, his wife Vaishali, and their children Vihangi and Dharmik—died from exposure while trying to cross into the US from Canada near Emerson, Manitoba. They were part of a group of migrants being smuggled across the border, and were found dead just 12 meters from the US side. In November 2024, two men—Harshkumar Patel, also known as ‘Dirty Harry,’ and American citizen Steve Shand—were convicted for their roles in the illegal operation.
