A package store clerk underwent emergency surgery Saturday night after a robber shot him in the chest.
Two masked men entered Walt’s Package Store on Columbus Avenue in the Hill around 8:30 p.m., demanded money, took a few bucks, then fled after one of them shot the clerk, 41-year-old Rakeshkumar Patel, in the chest, according to police. He went by ambulance to Yale-new Haven, where he is described in “critical but stable condition.”
About two hours later, across town in Newhallville, somebody beat and shot a 33-year-old man in the hip, shoulder, and chest on Shelton Avenue, according to police. He was able to talk when he tracked down a cop and went to the hospital, where he is described in stable condition.
Police ask anyone with information about the shootings to call them at 203 – 946-6304.
Over at the Register, the cops and Ice the Beef are crowing about a 36% drop in body stacking and shootings. Oops - now that percentage has gone already.