A native of India, Sandip Patel was a young man who had come to Pittsburgh to be with family and find work as an accountant. His life, however, took a tragic and unforeseen turn, setting him on a path of struggle and ultimately ending in his untimely death.
On April 28, 2000, a wave of racially motivated violence swept through two counties in Pennsylvania, leaving a trail of devastation. Richard Baumhammers, a then 37-year-old from Mt.
Lebanon, embarked on a 90-minute shooting spree that covered a 20-mile stretch. During this rampage, fueled by racial and ethnic hatred, Baumhammers targeted and killed five individuals. Sandip Patel, then 25 years old, was working inside his family's India Grocers store in Scott when he was shot twice by Baumhammers.
Miraculously, Mr. Patel was the only one of the six victims to survive the initial attack. However, the bullets had left him paralyzed from the neck down, a quadriplegic. In the years that followed, he became a symbol of hope and a powerful voice against intolerance, bravely speaking out against hate crimes. Despite his severe injuries, he worked to spur legislators to support hate crime prevention acts. His sister recalled that he prayed for the person who had hurt him, expressing a wish that no one else would have to endure what he went through.
After years of living in a personal care facility, Sandip Patel's health eventually declined. On Saturday, February 3, 2007, at the age of 32, he died from complications of pneumonia in the intensive care unit at UPMC Passavant. Following his death, the Allegheny County District Attorney's office announced a review to determine if additional charges could be filed against Richard Baumhammers, who had been convicted for the rampage and was on death row.
