Hyderabad woman among 9 killed in shooting incident in US

Indianorigin engineer Aishwarya Thatikonda was among the nine people killed when a gunwielding man opened fire at shoppers outside a mall in Dallas area in the US on Saturday The New York Post reportedThatikonda a project manager with a private company in Dallas and a resident of Saroornagar in Hyderabad had moved to the US from India According to local media reports the 27yearold was shopping with a friend at the Allen Premium Outlets in the northern suburbs of Dallas when a gunman opened fireThe assailant identified as Mauricio Garcia was later shot dead by a police officerThatikonda 27 lived and worked in McKinney Texas while her family was in India Texasbased WFAA television station reportedAccording to a family representative the Indianorigin girl was with a friend at the outlet mall when the shots rang out Her friend who also sustained injuries is currently in stable condition at the hospital the network was cited in the WFAA reportThatikondas family plans to bring her body back to India the representative saidAlso Read Multiple people shot at Dallasarea outlet mall gunman deadAs per her LinkedIn profile Thatikonda had been working in Dallas for over two yearsIn a statement the Allen Premium Outlets stated We are horrified by the senseless tragedy at Allen Premium Outlets and are outraged by the violence that continues to plague our country according to The New York PostOur thoughts and prayers are with the victims their families and others affected by this heinous act We are thankful for the Allen Police Officers heroic actions and for the support of all the first respondersBrian E Harvey the chief of police in Allen Texas said at a news conference on Saturday night that the gunman acted alone A police officer who was on another assignment at the mall at the time of the shooting heard gunfire rushed towards it and killed the shooterAround 330 pm local time a shooting was witnessed at the Allen Premium Outlets an outdoor shopping centre with more than 120 retailers located about 25 miles north of Dallas according to The New York TimesSocial media users posted a video showing the shooter lying on the ground dressed in allblack holding a long rifle and what appeared to be several rounds of ammo and a tactical vestHundreds of customers were seen leaving the area on video taken from the scene while many of them had their hands raised The aerial footage showed at least three bodies covered in sheets outside the mall reported New York TimesAccording to US Census Bureau Texas has the secondlargest IndianAmerican population in the US as of 2020 In 2010 there were 230842 Indian Americans in Texas making up 09 per cent of the populationAccording to the data shared by the Open Doors about half of the Indian students are pursuing higher education in six US states including New York California Texas Illinois Massachusetts and Arizona Texas had 19382 Indian students in 2021This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever