Masked men arrested in slaying of Midlands convenience store owner

Two teenagers were arrested Thursday in connection with the shooting death of a Sumter store owner.

Sincere Dinkins, 17, and Larenzo Hagood, 19, of Sumter, are facing charges of murder, attempted armed robbery, possession of weapon during a violent crime, conspiracy and two counts of kidnapping, according to a news release by the Sumter Police Department. They are being held at the Sumter-Lee Regional Detention Center.

Both are accused in the slaying of Vijaykumar Patel, 57, the store owner of the Save-Mart Grocery store on Manning Avenue in Sumter. The incident took place Friday just before 7 p.m.

Dinkins and Hagood are accused of wearing masks, barging into the grocery store while armed and ordering two customers to the ground before at least one of the men began firing, the release stated.

Patel was injured in the shooting and died at the scene. Customers were not injured. Both teens had prior juvenile records, the release stated.