The man suspected to have killed 26-year-old Telangana student Sharath Koppula last week has been killed by the police, the US media reported on Sunday.
Kansas City Police, in a series of tweets, stated that an investigation into the student’s murder led them to the suspect’s location and when the police confronted him, the suspect opened fire at them.
The third officer struck by gunfire is in stable condition at this time.
— Kansas City Police (@kcpolice) July 15, 2018
At approximately 1:15p the armed suspect exited a residence and once again exchanged gunfire with officers. He was shot and taken into custody. He was declared deceased by KCFD at that time.
In the encounter that followed, the suspect was killed and three police officers were wounded. The officers have been admitted to a hospital and are expected to recover from their injuries.
The suspect has not been named and it is not clear if he is the same person seen in CCTV footage released by the police after Sharath was killed.
Kansas City Police Chief Rick Smith, speaking to reporters, stated that detectives were looking for the man all week when he suddenly ‘popped up’ at the scene of the encounter The police are not looking for any more suspects.
Crime Scene processing will continue through the night and likely into tomorrow. These photos are from the original scene on 40 hwy. Officers were inside this car when they were fired upon by the suspect pic.twitter.com/6zzt1yGkF1
— Kansas City Police (@kcpolice) July 16, 2018
Sharath was fatally shot on July 6 at a restaurant named J's Fish and Chicken Market, located at 5412 Prospect Ave in Kansas. Sharath, who hailed from Warangal in Telangana, was an MS student at the University of Missouri, Kansas City.
According to reports, the suspect had entered the restaurant and demanded money on July 6. Sharath, who did not know how to operate the cash register near him, tried to run towards the back of the store. The suspect then shot him in the back. Sharath was rushed to a hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.
Sharath had moved to the US six months ago. He had completed his engineering at the Vasavi College of Engineering in Hyderabad and was employed at a software firm in the city.
His mortal remains had reached his hometown last week and he was laid to rest in Telangana after his last rites were performed in Warangal on Thursday.