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Indian-origin woman shot dead in South Carolina store
Police have arrested a 21-year-old suspect after an hours-long standoff and charged him with murder.
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Malvika Choudhary - Mon, 22, Sep 2025
- 12:42 EDT
- 25
Representative Image / Unsplash
An Indian-origin woman working at a convenience store in Union County, South Carolina, was fatally shot on Sept. 16 during an armed robbery attempt.
Police have arrested a 21-year-old suspect after an hours-long standoff and charged him with murder of 49-year-old Kiran Patel and two other shootings.
Also Read: Telangana student shot dead by US police in California
According to a Fox News report, Zaedan Mack Hill was taken into custody on Sept. 19 following a standoff with the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, SWAT and Union Public Safety officers.
Earlier on the same day, officers discovered 67-year-old Charles Nathan Crosby unresponsive in a yard on South Mountain Street in Union, apparently shot.
That night, around 10:30 p.m., police responded to DD’s Food Mart on South Pinckney Street after reports of gunfire. Patel, who managed the store, was found lying in the parking lot with gunshot wounds and was declared dead at the scene.
A GoFundMe page created to support Patel’s family described how the attack unfolded. It said Patel was counting cash at the register when Hill allegedly approached, climbed onto the counter and shot her before she could hand over the money.
“During the firing, Kiran Patel threw something like a plastic bottle at the robber and ran away, and the robber also ran after her,” the account stated. “The robber continued to fire at Kiran Patel, who ran towards the parking lot to save her life, and during this time, she was hit by a bullet and fell down after going barely twenty feet away.”
The attacker reportedly returned to fire another shot while she lay unconscious before fleeing. Police later linked the two shootings through forensic evidence, including nine-millimeter shell casings recovered at both crime scenes. Hill has been booked into the Union County jail.
Patel, described in local reports as a hardworking immigrant, was the sole worker at the store on the night of the shooting.
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