Indian clerk in Los Angeles shot dead in suspected robbery attempt

Whittier: Local police is investigating the death of Maninder Singh Sahi, an Indian shop clerk, who was shot dead on Saturday while at his job.

Sahi was working as a cashier at a 7-Eleven store in the Los Angeles county area, when a suspected robber reportedly burst in to the store. A man with a semi-automatic handgun entered the store at in the 8400 block of Santa Fe Springs Road shortly before 5.45am, Officer Hugo Figueroa of the Whitter Police Department told media.

The robber used the gun on Sahi even though surveillance footage shows that Sahi was co-operating with the robber. Video of the incident has not been released.

"There was no struggle," Figueroa said. "The victim was complying and for whatever reason the shooter decided to shoot him and fled."

Two customers were also in the store at the time of the incident but were left unharmed according to reports.

The suspected robber, police told media, is still at large. The suspect was described as a man about 5 feet 6" to 5 feet 7" wearing a dark-colored hoodie with a light-colored hoodie underneath, black pants, gloves and a bandanna that partially covered his face.

Sahi, a father of two and believed to be 31, has two children according to a Go Fund Me page set up by his cousin brother. The page aims to raise $30,000 to repatriate Sahi's body, out of which people have donated over $12,000 at the time of publishing this story.

According to media reports, Sahi hailed from Karnal in Haryana and had moved to the US just over six months ago. Sahi is survived by his children, aged 5 and 9, and his wife.

- Inputs from LAT