Young engineer from Telangana among Texas shooting victims

Aishwarya Thatikonda, 27, of Saroornagar in Hyderabad worked as a project manager with a private company and was staying in Texas.

Suryapet: Aishwarya Thatikonda, 27, a native of Suryapet and resident of Saroornagar, was among those who were killed in the shooting at a mall in Allen of Dallas in the United States on Saturday.

Family members of Aishwarya, who were informed by US authorities of her demise in the incident, have started arrangements to reach the US and bring her body back home.

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Aishwarya was the daughter of Narsi Reddy Thatikonda, an additional District Judge with the Special Court for Trial and Disposal of Commercial Disputes, Ranga Reddy, and a native of Nereducherla in Suryapet district.

The family, including her mother Aruna Reddy and brother Srikant Reddy, was residing in Saroornagar, while Aishwarya lived in McKinney in Texas. She had completed her B.Tech from Osmania University in 2018 and Masters in Construction Management from the Eastern Michigan University in the US. She was working as a project engineer with Perfect General Contractors since 2021.

Aishwarya was among eight victims who were shot at by the suspect, Maricio Garcia, who was later shot dead by the police. One of Aishwarya’s friends, Shreyas Reddy, who was her schoolmate here and now in the US, was also injured in the incident, according to reports.

IT and Industries Minister KT Rama Rao, who was approached on Twitter by Aishwarya’s friend Sai Vikas, who went to school along with Aishwarya and Shreyas, asking for help to request the US authorities to send her body to India as soon as possible, has asked his office to follow up and do the needful.

Narsi Reddy, meanwhile, has written to the Allen County Police, authorising TANA treasurer Ashok Kolla as his representative to liaison with authorities to bring her body back.

Aishwarya had come home in December last year for Srikant’s wedding, according to reports, which also said she had talked to Aruna on Friday. She is said to have told her mother that she would be going to Allen shopping mall with Shreyash on Saturday. She would have turned 28 on May 18.