Telangana student shot dead in US

KANSAS CITY: A 26-year-old student from Telangana was shot dead by a suspected robber at a restaurant here in the US state of Missouri, police said.

Sharath Koppu, a student at the University of Missouri-kansas City (UKMC), was shot at about 7 pm on Friday at J’s Fish and Chicken Market near 54th and Prospect, where he worked as a part-time employee,

local newspaper reported. The police released a brief video of the suspect inside the restaurant moments before the shooting and asked for the community’s assistance in identifying him.

Koppu was a software engineer who came to the US in January to pursue his master’s degree.

Meanwhile, Raghu Chowdavaram, the victim’s cousin, created a Gofundme account on Saturday to collect money to pay for the body to be returned to India. It raised $25,000 in three hours. “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 wrote in the Gofundme account.

A worker at the restaurant told The that the suspect, wearing a brown shirt with white stripes, had demanded money and pulled out a gun.

As people hid or ran for cover around him, Koppu bolted directly away from the suspect, towards the back of the store. — IANS