Indian-origin man shot dead in US again

A 43-year-old Indian-origin store owner in the US has been shot dead outside his home, just days after an Indian engineer was killed in Kansas in a hate crime shooting that had sent shockwaves across the country.

Harnish Patel, 43, the owner of a convenience store in Lancaster County, South Carolina, was found dead of gunshot wounds in the front yard of his home on Thursday,  police officials said.

Local Sheriff Barry Faile said the Indian ethnicity of Patel does not appear to be a factor in the crime.

"I don't have any reason to believe that this was racially motivated," Faile said.

Patel's death comes close on the heels of the shooting in Kansas of a 32-year-old Indian engineer Srinivas Kuchibhotla, who was killed when 51-year-old US Navy veteran Adam Purinton opened fire at him and his friend Alok Madasani at a bar before yelling "get out of my country."

The shooting last month had sent shockwaves across the Indian-American community with people expressing concerns over their safety in an environment of xenophobic and racist rhetoric in the country.

US President Donald Trump had condemned the Kansas shooting. He had said America stands united in condemning hate and evil in all its forms.