Rakesh Ehagaban, 50, stepped outside to check the situation after the accused shot a female companion outside the motel following an argument.
An Indian-origin motel manager in Pittsburgh, was reportedly shot dead after he stepped outside to check on an argument that was going on in the parking lot of a Robinson Township motel. Fifty-year-old Rakesh Ehagaban was shot in the head at point-blank range and died at the scene on Friday.
The accused has been identified as 37-year-old Stanley Eugene West and has been charged with criminal homicide, attempted homicide, and recklessly endangering another person.
Police said West fired at Ehagaban when he asked, “Are you alright, bud?” Officers also said that surveillance footage showed West walking towards him and, as he got within a feet of Ehagaban, he raised his gun and shot him in the head.
Meanwhile, West was also reportedly injured in an encounter with the police on Friday. As the police tracked and approached his vehicle, officers said the suspect opened fire and hit a Pittsburgh detective in the leg. The officers then returned fire, hitting West several times, police told CBS News.
Notably, Ehagaban stepped outside to check the situation after West shot a female companion outside the motel following an argument. When the motel manager arrived, the suspect shot him in the head and killed him, Allegheny County Superintendent Christopher Kearns said.
The woman was rushed to the hospital and was listed in critical condition as per the last update.
What happened during the shooting?
Police said that West had been staying at the motel for nearly two weeks with the woman as well as a child. He also listed a residence on Page Street in Pittsburgh’s North Side.
Officers said that the woman was sitting in a black sedan with the child when the shooter approached the driver’s side door and shot at the sedan, shattering the window.
However, she was still able to drive the car to Dick Kernick Tire & Auto Service Centre at about 1 pm (local time) before the police found her.
Police said that the child, who was in the back seat, was not injured in the incident. The attack on the woman was what led Ehagaban to step outside the motel and confront West.
After the shooting, the suspect “nonchalantly walks to the U-Haul and drives away,” the complaint said.
In a statement, Martin Devine, Acting Chief of the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police, said, “The Pittsburgh Bureau of Police detective injured by gunfire during the critical incident in East Hills on Friday is resting comfortably at home with his family and with the full support of his fellow officers and the Bureau. The family asks for privacy at this time.”
