A 43-year-old Indian-origin store owner in the United States 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, coroner and police officials said.





Patel closed his Speedee Mart store and drove in his silver minivan to his nearby home where authorities believe he was confronted by his killer. The store is about 6 km from his house, The Herald reported. He had locked up his store less than 10 minutes before he was found dead, police said.





Patel was found in the yard a few minutes before midnight, according to a statement from the Lancaster County Coroner's Office.