INDIAN KILLED IN KANSAS CITY
An Indian student was killed during a robbery in Kansas City on Friday evening. Hyderabad’s K Sharat was shot in a restaurant where he worked part-time.
A 26-year-old techie from Telangana was shot and killed during an attempted robbery at a restaurant in Kansas City, Missouri, officials said on Saturday.
Sharath Koppu, was shot by unidentified persons at J’s Fish and Chicken Market on Friday evening, Capt Lionel Colon of the local police department told The Kansas City Star.
“We immediately rendered aid in regard to the injuries. Once the fire department arrived, they transported him to a nearby hospital, where he was later pronounced deceased,” Colon said, adding nobody was in custody for the crime.
Another police officer investigating the crime said it was an attempted robbery and hate crime was not being suspected as of now. Koppu’s death was confirmed by the official Twitter handle of the Indian consulate in Chicago. “Deepest condolences to the family of K Sharath who was victim of a shooting in Kansas City Missouri. Consulate officials are on the way. We will provide all assistance,” it tweeted.
Koppu hailed from Warangal district and was pursuing his masters in software engineering at the University of Missouri. He was said to be working part-time at the restaurant in Kansas City.
Two witnesses, who were in a nearby motel, were quoted by the Kansas City media as saying that they had heard five shots coming from the direction of the restaurant. There was no further information on the shooting and whether one or more assailants were involved.
Koppu’s father Rammohan Koppu, an employee of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited in Hyderabad, told the media 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. Rammohan 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.
Rammohan, his wife Malathi and other relatives met Telangana police chief M Mahender Reddy on Saturday night and sought his help to find out details of the incident. They also sent letters to external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj and Telangana IT minister KT Rama Rao, seeking their help.
Kansas City in Missouri state is roughly half-an-hour’s drive from Olathe in Kansas state, where Indian engineer Srinivas Kuchibhotla was shot dead on February 22, 2017 by a man yelling racial slurs.
Adam Purinton, the 51-yearold man convicted for Kuchibhotla’s murder, was sentenced to life in prison on May 5.