Four members of a family hailing from India were shot dead inside their house in West Des Moines, Iowa in the United States on Saturday. The deceased includes two young boys aged 10 and 15 years. Multiple reports suggest that victims are Telugu.
The deceased have been identified as 44-year-old Chandrasekhar Sunkara, his wife Lavanya Sunkara and their two children. According to the police, relatives – two adults and two children- were staying as guests with the family. On discovering the bodies, one of the survivors fled the house and asked passersby for help, who then dialled 911 and informed the local police.
Chandrasekhar was an IT professional with the Iowa Department of Public Safety, while Lavanya worked in a software company.
Police has found multiple gun shots on the bodies of the victims and autopsies will be performed to know the exact cause of death.
Further, the cops have asked Indians in the region not to panic and said the deaths do not come across as a threat to the others in the community living in the United States.
Uni Kisher, who lives behind the Sunkaras’ residence, told the local Des Moines Register that nothing like this had happened in the past 20 years that she has lived in the neighbourhood.
“I was out yesterday with the neighbour's dog to the south, then I saw that yellow tape and I thought, 'Well, what the heck's going on there.' And another neighbour told me what was going on, and I was just shocked,” she was quoted as saying.
The Telugu community in the US has contacted the Indian embassy and are making arrangements to help the bereaved family back in India.
A statement by the West Des Moines Police Department states that the Iowa Department of Criminal Investigation is processing the scene as West Des Moines detectives continue their investigation.
“This tragedy will impact family, friends, co-workers, anyone that knew this family,” West Des Moines police Sgt. Dan Wade said in Saturday's release. “We are continuing to work through this investigation. We will follow through until we have answered as many questions as the evidence allows. We are confident, though, that there is no continuing threat to the community,” West Des Moines police Sgt. Dan Wade said.
It was only in March that three people from Telangana were killed in a mass shooting in New Zealand. 31-year-old Farhaj Ahsan, a software engineer from Hyderabad and 35-year-old Imran Khan, a restaurateur hailing from Karimnagar district and 25-year-old Ozair Khadir, an aspiring pilot were killed in the attack.