A 19-year-old accused of shooting the owner of a Cobb County liquor store two weeks ago has been arrested — and police say it wasn’t the first time he held up the shop.
Rashaad Snipes was charged Tuesday in the May 12 robbery and shooting of Kaushik Govani, who owns the Bottle Shop at the intersection of Baker and Hickory Grove roads near Acworth.
A GoFundMe page set up to raise money for Govani’s family said the 55-year-old was shot three times in the most recent heist and is still fighting for his life. The gunshots damaged Govani’s heart, diaphragm, stomach, liver and spleen, according to his family. Weeks later, he remains in critical condition at Wellstar Kennestone Hospital.
“He is currently fighting for his life in the trauma ICU, on a ventilator and with advanced-life treatments,” the page said, adding that Govani is the sole provider for his family of five.
The fundraising page described him as hard-working and kind, and said he takes the time to know each of his customers at the shop, which is “near-and-dear to his heart.” As of Thursday, the page had raised nearly $46,000 for Govani’s medical expenses.
Authorities have not said how they linked Snipes to the liquor store shooting, but jail records show he lives less than a mile away.
He is also charged in a March 15 robbery at the store in which he’s accused of pointing a pistol at Govani before stealing $700 and a bottle of Hennessy, according to arrest warrants obtained Thursday. Authorities said Snipes returned to the liquor store two months later, critically wounding the shop’s owner.
“There was a robbery initially, but the second one is the one in which the clerk got shot,” Cobb police spokesman Sgt. Wayne Delk said. “(Snipes) was apprehended after the second one, but he was linked to the first robbery as well.”
Snipes faces two counts each of armed robbery, aggravated assault and possessing a firearm during the commission of a felony, online records show. He’s also charged with underage possession of alcohol and aggravated battery.
Snipes remained held at the Cobb County Jail on Thursday afternoon without bond.
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