Rakesh Bhagavan, a 50-year-old hotel manager and father of three daughters in Robinson Township, Pennsylvania, was shot and killed on October 3, 2025 after stepping outside his Pittsburgh Motel office to check on a disturbance in the parking lot. The disturbance began when Stanley Eugene West, 37, reportedly fired at a woman’s car as she tried to drive away with a child in the back seat. Video shows Mr. Bhagavan approached West and asked if he was all right; West then raised a firearm and shot Mr. Bhagavan point-blank in the head. Mr. Bhagavan was pronounced dead at the scene.

West fled in a U-Haul van but was tracked by license plate readers to the East Hills of Pittsburgh, where a shootout with police followed. A Pittsburgh detective was shot in the leg and both the detective and West were hospitalized; the woman involved in the initial dispute was also hospitalized in critical condition. West was arrested and charged with criminal homicide, attempted homicide, recklessly endangering another person, two counts of attempted criminal homicide, assault of a law enforcement officer, and aggravated assault. A preliminary hearing is scheduled to determine whether the case will go to trial.

Does anyone have information about Mr. Bhagavan, his work at the motel, or the events in the parking lot that night?