INDIAN-AMERICAN BEHIND HOUSTON SHOOTING

A man who went on a shooting rampage in Houston on Monday, injuring nine people before being killed by police, was an IndianAmerican lawyer, who had fallen on bad times following the closure of his law firm. Nathan Desai was wearing a military uniform emblazoned with a Nazi swastika sign at the time of the rampage.

An Indian-American lawyer, who had fallen on bad times after the closure of his firm earlier this year, went on a shootingrampageinHouston, injuring nine people before he was killed by police officers.

Nathan Desai, 46, who spelt his last name DeSai, wore a military uniform emblazoned with a Nazi swastika sign at the time of the shooting on Monday. He was carrying two guns and had left a submachine gun in his Porsche found at the site of the onslaught.

He opened fire on morning commuters driving past him just outside his condominium complex in southwest Houston. One of his nine victims was said to be in grievous condition. Police have said they do not yet know his motive. Apart from the Nazi swastika on his uniform, they found one in his notebook, and items of military memorabilia including some about the American civil war. “At this point we are very open-minded in terms of motive,” acting Houston police chief Martha Montalvo said.

His father, Prakash Desai, a retired geologist, told media his son had seemed troubled by the closure of the law firm he ran in partnership with another lawyer.

This is the second shooting, involving four or more victims killed or wounded, by an IndianAmerican in recent months. In June, Mainak Sarkar killed a professor of the University of California, Los Angeles and turned the gun on himself.