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Indian woman from Telangana among 9 killed in Texas mall shooting; family in shock

Aishwarya Thatikonda, an Indian national who was among the nine killed after a gunman opened fire into people at a shopping mall of north Dallas in Texas, the US, on May 6, 2023. Thatikonda was from Hyderabad in the south Indian state of Telangana and worked as a project manager with a private company in the US. (ANI Photo)

By: India Weekly Staff

A 26-year-old Indian woman, who was working in the US as a project engineer, was among nine people killed when a gunman opened fire at a crowded mall in Dallas in Texas, authorities said on Monday (8).

Aishwarya Thatikonda, of McKinney, was shopping with a friend when they were shot by gunman Mauricio Garcia at the Allen Premium Outlets in Dallas, the New York Post newspaper reported.

Texas mall mass shooting
Officers of the US’s Texas Department of Public Safety block an entranceway to the Allen Premium Outlets mall May 7, 2023 in Allen, Texas. Officials continue to investigate the May 6 mass shooting at the Allen Premium Outlets mall. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

The shooting erupted around 3:30 pm on Saturday (6) as throngs of shoppers filled the outdoor mall.

The shooting killed at least eight people before Mauricio Garcia, a 33-year-old gunman, was shot dead by a police officer.

Thatikonda, daughter of a district judge in Ranga Reddy district court in the southern Indian state of Telangana, worked as a project engineer at Perfect General Contractors LLC.

A family representative confirmed to the WFAA television station that Thatikonda was also among the dead from the gun violence.

Thatikonda had spoken to her family members before the incident on Saturday, and when they called her back after learning about the shooting they did not get any response, according to the judge’s friend.

“The family got the information about (her death) on Sunday. They are in shock. They have been told that efforts were being made to send her body by Wednesday,” the judge’s friend said.

Thatikonda was an engineer living and working in Texas while her family was in India. Her friend, who was not identified, was injured but is currently in stable condition at the hospital, the paper said. Thatikonda’s family is planning to bring her body back to India, it added.

She did her civil engineering from a college in Hyderabad in India and completed her master’s in the US after which she had been working there for more than two years. Garcia, the gunman, was shot and killed by an officer who was patrolling the area.

A Dallas home linked to Garcia’s parents was searched by police Saturday night after the massacre, and officials also scoured a motel where the shooter had booked an extended stay, law-enforcement sources told local outlet WFAA-TV.

In a statement about the shooting, the mall said, “We are horrified by the senseless tragedy at Allen Premium Outlets and are outraged by the violence that continues to plague our country. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims, their families and others affected by this heinous act. We are thankful for the Allen Police Officer’s heroic actions and for the support of all the first responders.”

So far, there have been at least 198 mass shootings in the United States in 2023, according to the gun violence archive. Saturday’s tragedy occurred just a couple of weeks before the first anniversary of the Uvalle, Texas, school massacre when 19 children and two adults were killed by a gunman at Robb Elementary School on May 24, 2022.

(PTI)

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