Suspect in Telangana student Sharath Koppu’s killing shot, says US police

The suspect in the killing of Indian student Sarath Koppu in Kansas City restaurant has been shot in an encounter with the police, US authorities said on Monday.

On July 6, the 25-year-old student from Telangana was fatally shot in the back during a robbery attempt in Kansas City of the US state of Missouri.

The suspect was traced by two undercover police officials on Sunday. When the officers were closing in, the suspect shot them with a rifle and fled the spot, and leaving the officers injured.

The suspect and the police exchanged several gunshots in which the suspect was shot dead. The Kansas police didn’t release the name of the suspect.

The officers injured in the encounter were in stable condition and their injuries were not life-threatening, Police said.

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The victim, Koppu, a resident of Warangal district was working as an engineer in Hyderabad and had recently moved to the US for pursuing his masters in software engineering at the University of Missouri.

He was working part-time at J’s Fish and Chicken Market on Prospect Avenue restaurant in Kansas City where the incident took place.

Within a day, police had released the footage of the suspect, whom they called the “person of interest”. The police had also announced a bounty of USD 10,000 on his head.