WARNER ROBINS, Ga. — Editor's Note: A previous version of the story identified the victim as an employee. Both the store's owner and the victim's family told 13WMAZ that he was not an employee. WRPD verified that information and say he was an employee's husband.
Warner Robins police are investigating after a man died after being shot during a robbery Sunday afternoon.
Warner Robins Police Chief John Wagner confirmed it happened at the Citgo on Russell Parkway.
A release from the Warner Robins Police Department said officers responded to the location around 5:30 p.m. for an armed robbery.
Once they got to the Express Shop at the gas station, they found a man had been shot, later identified as 49-year-old Navaneetbhai Patel.
The release said Patel was taken to Houston Medical Center, where he later died.
Store owner Parvin Patel says the victim was a family friend.
"“He was a friend of ours, you know. He [would] just come to visit us," says Patel. "He never worked here. He [would] just come visit. You know, as an Indian, he would come and talk.”
The release described the suspect as medium height and wearing all black clothing. He fled the store on foot with an undisclosed amount of money.
There were customers and an employee inside the gas station when the robbery happened, the release said.
Patel says after nearly two decades of running this store, he’s shocked something like this happened here.
“I've never had anything broken, never robbed. Never anything [that's] happened. No one [has] even broken the glass here," says Patel.
Chief John Wagner said he looks forward to catching the person, or persons, involved.
“It’s senseless, it’s tragic. There’s absolutely no reason for anyone to do this," says Wagner.
The Warner Robins Police Department also says the surveillance cameras at the store were not working at the time of the shooting, so they do not have any photos of the suspect.
Police say this is the fourth homicide for the city of Warner Robins in 2019.
Anyone with information can call Detective Justin Clark or Detective Chad Pierce at 478-302-5380 or Macon Regional Crimestoppers at 1-877-68CRIME.
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