Blackville convenience store owner shot dead in robbery
BLACKVILLE, S.C. (WRDW/WAGT) - A convenience store owner was shot dead in an early morning robbery today in the Barnwell County community of Blackville, according to authorities.
Ashwinbhai Patel, 60, of Izlar Street in Blackville, was shot to death at the Corner Stop, according to Coroner Lloyd B. Ward.
South Carolina Law Enforcement Division spokesman Tommy Crosby called the incident a “robbery turned homicide.”
Ward said the incident was reported at 6:45 a.m. by a customer at the store in the 20000 block of Solomon Blatt Avenue, which is also South Carolina Highway 3.
Witnesses told News 12 there was a large law enforcement presence there starting shortly after the shooting was reported. They said about 15 patrol vehicles were on the scene and highly visible to travelers passing through the small town.
Hours after the shooting, the site remained very active around midday, with officers and investigators out in force along with members of the community.
The incident brought back memories of a similar one less than a year ago and only nine miles to the east. On Nov. 14, 2019, an armed robbery at the Po Boys convenience in the community of Denmark took the lives of employees Kiran and Chirag Patel.
In addition to the Ward’s office, the Blackville Police Department, SLED, Barnwell County Sheriff’s Office and South Carolina Department of Natural Resources are involved in the investigation of today’s slaying.
An autopsy will be performed, according to Ward.
It’s been a busy past few days for law enforcement officers in the CSRA:
- Just before 3 a.m. today, a shooting in the 2000 block of Wharton Drive in Augusta sent one person to a hospital. Investigators combed the scene and spoke to neighbors before dawn.
- In Georgia, a shooting just outside Sparta in Hancock County injured six people and killed Sabreal Meshae Taylor, 33, early Sunday. Then just a few hours later in an unrelated incident, a stabbing took the life of Brandon Morris, 34, after an apparent traffic accident in Sparta.
- A victim died Friday morning after being shot near the intersection of Columbia and Washington roads in Martinez. Soon after gunshots were reported just after 2 a.m., deputies found Gage Cameron Reynolds, 28, in the front yard of a home at 211 Valdes Drive.
- A few hours after the Martinez shooting, Kafele Bush, 25, was pronounced dead at the scene of a fight in the 1800 block of Fayetteville Drive at Azalea Park Apartments in Augusta. A 16-year-old and an 18-year-old have been arrested in connection with the death, which is being described as suspicious.
- A man died at 7:45 a.m. Thursday after being shot the night before outside an Augusta business. Deputies were called to the Ikonz Sports Bar on North Leg Road on Wednesday night after reports of a shooting around 10 p.m. When deputies arrived, they found 38-year-old Victor Kameil Banks had been shot at least once.
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