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December 31, 2012

Employee gives her account of Jeffersonville liquor store shooting

Man shot numerous times by masked gunman

By GARY POPP gary.popp@newsandtribune.com

JEFFERSONVILLE —  An employee of Red Carpet Liquors in Jeffersonville was shot during an attempted robbery Saturday night.

Jeffersonville police reported Patel Kamleshkumar, 41, of Jeffersonville, was shot multiple times about 8 p.m.

Kamleshkumar was shot by the masked gunman, said another employee, Loretta Banister, of Clarksville, who witnessed the incident.

Banister said she and Kamleshkumar were both working when the gunman entered the business on Crestview Court and 8th Street.

She said she was in the back of the business retrieving several bottles to stock when she heard the doorbell that rings when the front door is opened.

As she came from the storage area to the front of the business she saw the gunman with his arms stretched over the counter pointing a firearm at Kamleshkumar.

“I ducked down so he didn’t see that I was there,” Banister said.

She said she never got a good look at the suspect during the incident, but she could see from her crouched position his arms holding a gun pointed at her co-worker.

Banister then heard the suspect tell Kamleshkumar two or three times to, “Give me the money,” she said.

She said Kamleshkumar does not speak English well, and thinks he may have been confused by the gunman’s demands.

“All of a sudden, I heard pops go off,” she said of the gunfire.

Banister said Kamleshkumar was shot several times by the gunman who stood only a few feet away on the other side of the counter.

“It all happened so fast,” she said.

She said she had placed her hand over her mouth so the gunman could not hear her reaction to seeing her co-worker repeatedly shot.

She said Kamleshkumar was shot three or four times before he fell to the ground.

After the burst of gunfire, Banister said she again heard the doorbell ring as the shooter left the store.

She said she then got up from her squatted position and pushed the business’ panic button, which alerts authorities, and called 911.

She then went to comfort Kamleshkumar and told him not worry and that he would be OK.

Moments later police arrived, and Kamleshkumar was taken away on a stretcher, she said.

Jeffersonville police said Monday that no arrests have been made, and the investigation continues.

According to newsgathering partner WLKY-TV, Kamleshkumar was taken to University of Louisville Hospital for treatment.

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