Sandip Patel was 25 when he was shot twice on April 28, 2000, during a 90-minute, racially motivated shooting spree that moved across a 20-mile area in two Pennsylvania counties. He was working in his family’s India Grocers store in Scott when Richard Baumhammers shot him; five other people were killed in the rampage. Patel survived the initial attack but was left a quadriplegic, paralyzed from the neck down.

In the years after the shooting Patel became an outspoken advocate against hate crimes, urging legislators to support hate crime prevention measures and speaking publicly despite his severe injuries. He later lived in a personal care facility; his health declined and he died of complications of pneumonia on February 3, 2007, at age 32. The Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office announced it would review whether additional charges could be filed against Baumhammers.

Did anyone who knew Sandip or his family work at India Grocers in Scott and want to share memories or information?