Koppu, a student at the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UKMC), was shot at 7pm on Friday at J’s Fish and Chicken Market near 54th and Prospect, where he worked as a part-time employee. A software engineer, he had moved to the US in January to pursue his Master’s degree.
Police have announced a reward of $10,000 for information leading to the robber who killed the Telangana student. They also released the CCTV footage of the incident, which shows the suspect’s face.
Looking for this suspect in the robbery & murder of 25-y.o. Sharath Kopuu at 5412 Prospect last night. Sharath was from India and is a student at UMKC. $10,000 reward for info leading to charges in this (& every KCMO murder) https://t.co/qUxkcItwXf
— Kansas City Police (@kcpolice) 7 July 2018
Koppu’s cousin Raghu Chowdavaram had created a GoFundMe account to collect money to pay for the body to be returned to India, raising $25,000 in three hours, IANS reported. “He had the same dreams like everyone else, to make it big in the land of opportunity. He had a great sense of humour and always made people laugh and was always eager to lend a helping hand,” Chowdavaram wrote in the GoFundMe account.
A worker at the restaurant told The Kansas City Star that the suspect, wearing a brown shirt with white stripes, had demanded money and pulled out a gun.
As people hid or ran for cover around him, Koppu bolted directly away from the suspect, towards the back of the store. “(Koppu) ran, so he shot him in the back,” the worker said. Koppu died after being taken to a hospital.
“We offer our sincere sympathies to Sharath’s family and friends in the wake of this senseless tragedy,” UMKC said in a statement on Saturday. UMKC Chancellor C Mauli Agrawal offered his own condolences in a tweet on Saturday evening. “Sharath and I share an Indian heritage, but all of us at UMKC share in the grief such tragedies bring,” Agrawal wrote.
