Indian student shot dead at Ohio gas station
GoFundMe page set up to transport Andhra native Saiesh Veera’s body to India and help his mother
Police in Columbus, Ohio are looking for the suspected killer of an Indian student hailing from Andhra Pradesh who was shot dead during an attempted robbery at a gas station.
Saiesh Veera, 24, who would have graduated with a Master’s degree in a few days, was shot at a Shell gas station where he worked, on Thursday, according to local media reports.
Columbus Police said they received a call at 12.50 am local time informing them that an employee of a Shell gas station at 1000 West Broad Street in Franklinton was shot during an attempted robbery.
Read: Indian American student at Purdue killed in university dorm (October 6, 2022)
He was taken to a hospital in critical condition, but did not survive and was pronounced dead at 1.27 am local time.
Police later released photos of the suspect after reviewing CCTV footage from the store and sought people’s help in finding him.
HELP US FIND THIS SUSPECT
Homicide detectives are asking for help to identify this person related to a deadly shooting that occurred on April 20, 2023. Saiesh Veera, 24, was shot and killed at a gas station located in the 1000 block of W. Broad St.
Investigators are urging anyone who may have any information on who this person is to contact the Homicide Bureau at 614-645-4730. Tips can also be made to Central Ohio Crime Stoppers at 614-461-TIPS.
For more information on this crime and others like it, please visit our “help us solve a crime” page at www.columbus.gov/helpussolvecrime.
Saiesh’s roommate Venkat Nerusu remembered him as a passionate cricketer who wanted to work in the IT sector, according to ABC6News. Saiesh had played cricket with his friends hours before he was shot dead.
“Saiesh, he’s like a brother to everyone who plays cricket in Columbus,” Venkat told ABC6News. “It not even believable. It still after this many hours of going through this, it is, we cannot believe it’s true.”
“The last thing that we saw is his smiling face, and that’s the only thing that we had in mind,” Venkat said. “Now tomorrow, when we see his body and see him as a dead person, I don’t know how we are going to react to that, but it is completely shocking.”
Another roommate and cricket teammate Punith Ragupadhi told ABC6News that he had had a chat with Saiesh about the danger of working in an overnight shift at the gas station.
“He promised me to stop it, and he already told his gas station owner that I’m going to stop this work in two weeks. But, it was too late,” Punith told the channel.
Saiesh’s friends have set up a GoFundMe fundraiser to transport his body to India and provide assistance to his widowed mother. “The reason he came to the United States is to uplift his family,” said Punith, adding, “I can promise his family that we and all his friends will try to do as much as we can.”
The GoFundMe page said that Saiesh was set to graduate in 10 days and his H1B visa — which would have allowed him to work in the US — had been picked up.
Read: Indian student shot dead at US fuel station, suspect’s photo released (April 21, 2023)
“He came to the USA (the first in his family) like any other middle-class guy with aspirations and uplift his family situation as his father passed away two years ago.
He was always willing to help people in all situations and was such a sport on the cricket field. Every person who plays cricket in the Columbus area would know him, he was a brilliant cricketer and a great friend,” it said.
