A 26-year-old Indian student from Telangana was shot dead inside a restaurant in the US state of Missouri by a suspected robber.
Sharath Koppu, who was doing his Masters degree from the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UKMC), was shot on Friday evening at J’s Fish and Chicken Market where he was working as a part-time employee, The Kansas City Star newspaper reported.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj expressed condolences.
“We will follow this up with the police and provide all assistance to the family,” she tweeted.
The Kansas City police has released a brief video of the suspect inside the restaurant moments before the shooting and asked for people’s assistance in identifying him.
The suspect pulled out a gun and shot Koppu on his back. He died in hospital.
Koppu, who was a software engineer, came to the US in January.
Meanwhile, the Telangana government yesterday announced that it was making arrangements to bring Koppu’s body back to Hyderabad within two days.
The state’s Minister for NRI Affairs K T Rama Rao along with his cabinet colleagues Kadiam Srihari and T Srinivas Yadav visited Koppu’s house.
The state government was in touch the Ministry of External Affairs and the Indian embassy in the US, Rao said.
The minister said if Koppu’s family members wanted to go to the US to bring the body, the government would make all necessary arrangements for their travel.
The student’s father Ram Mohan, who works in Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), and mother Malati were in a state of shock since receiving the news of his death on Saturday.
Ram Mohan told reporters he had learnt on Saturday morning that his son was wounded in a shooting.
“We were told some miscreants entered the restaurant and started shooting. Two of my son’s friends escaped the bullets. My son tried to run away and they shot him from behind,” he said.
Ram Mohan said his son had graduated in software engineering from Vasavi Engineering College in Hyderabad and moved to the US in January. “While pursuing his studies, he was also working part-time in a restaurant there,” he said.
“Last night, we got to know that he was brutally killed by gunshots fired by unknown people around 8pm (US time). This is a very sad day for all of us,” the victim’s cousin Sandeep Vemulakonda said. The UKMC issued a statement expressing grief over Koppu’s death.
“We offer our sincere sympathies to Sharath’s family and friends in the wake of this senseless tragedy,” the statement said.
UMKC Chancellor C Mauli Agrawal offered his condolences.
“Sharath and I share an Indian heritage, but all of us at UMKC share in the grief such tragedies bring,” Agrawal said on Saturday evening.
Witnesses said Koppu was shot while trying to run from the robber. “The others ducked behind the counter but Sharath turned around and began to run in the opposite direction when the gunman opened fire. Sharath was shot in the back and soon fell to the ground,” Shahid, who runs the restaurant said.
Raghu Chowdavaram, who describes himself as Koppu’s cousin, has set up a crowdfunding campaign to send financial help for his family. By yesterday, the campaign had collected over $45,000.
“Sharath is known to his family and friends as full of dreams, cheerful, energetic and athletic. He had the same dreams like everyone else to make it BIG in the land of opportunity. He had a great sense of humour, and always made people laugh and was always eager to lend a helping hand,” Chowdavaram said.
The incident comes a year after another Hyderabad techie, Srinivas Kuchibhotla, 32, was killed in a race-triggered attack at a bar also in Kansas City on February 22, 2017.
In May, former US Navy veteran Adam Purinton admitted that he fatally shot Kuchibhotla saying that he targeted the victim because of his “actual and perceived race, colour, religion and national origin”.