LAKE CITY, Fla. -- One person is dead after being shot during a robbery, the Lake City Police Department has confirmed.
Police were notified of the robbery at 1:36 Friday evening and arrived at A & M Discount Beverage to find one person shot dead and the suspects gone, according to a release from Lake City Police Department Public Information Officer Steve Shaw.
Officers determined that the victim, 55-year-old Rajni Patel was the owner of the store, and Shaw said the suspects also fired shots at Patel's wife Daxa, but missed her.
Witnesses told police there are two suspects. One was described as a young black male who was about 5-foot 7-inches tall with short hair. They told officers the suspect was wearing a gray T-shirt and jean shorts. Shaw said this suspect took money and then ran from the scene.
Shaw described the other suspect as a light-skinned black man who appeared to be in his mid 30s and weigh between 230-250 lbs. He was wearing a straw hat, white baggy T-shirt, light blue jeans and dark shoes.
The second suspect, who was wearing white tape across his nose and on the left side of his neck, entered the store and shot the victim before fleeing.
As he left, the suspect tried to steal a white Mercury in the store's parking lot, but the car's owner refused to let him in. Instead, the Mercury's owner went to another convenience store and called 911. The suspect ran from the scene after his attempt at carjacking failed.
Since the second suspect fled on foot, three schools in the area were locked down: Melrose Elementary School, Richardson Middle School and Eastside Elementary.
The schools were holding all walkers and bus riders, and allowing parents to pick their children up from school, according to Dorothy Spradley, Public Information Officer for the Columbia County School District.