4 min readApr 21, 2023 01:45 PM IST
First published on: Apr 21, 2023 at 12:39 PM IST
An Indian student, who would have graduated with a Master’s degree in a few days, was shot dead in Columbus, Ohio, on Thursday, local media reported.
The 24-year-old Saiesh Veera, hailing from Andhra Pradesh, was shot at on Thursday early in the morning during a robbery attempt at the gas station he worked in, reported local NBC4 television network.
According to the report, the Columbus Police 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. Though Saiesh was taken to a hospital in critical condition, he did not survive and was pronounced dead at 1.27 am local time.
Police officials said they were reviewing CCTV footage from the store, and have released photos of the suspect.
Friends remember Saiesh
After his demise, Saiesh’s roommate Venkat Nerusu remembered him as a passionate cricketer who wanted to work in the IT sector. An ABC6News report said Saiesh’s friends had played cricket with him 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 media house.
Fundraiser set up
The friends have set up a fundraiser at GoFundMe to collect the amount needed 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. “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.
Police response
Columbus police said that they were investigating the incident. “On April 20, 2023, at 12:50 am, Columbus Police officers were dispatched to the 1000 block of W. Broad St. on a reported shooting. Upon arrival, the officers located an adult male victim, identified as Saiesh Veera, M/O/24, suffering from a gunshot wound,” police said.
“I don’t know who did this and why he did this, but justice needs to be served,” said Venkat told ABC6News. “No one should go through this, and I hope there should be an end for this violence.”
Saiesh Veera, an Indian student in Columbus, was shot and killed in an attempted robbery in a gas station. (GoFundMe) 
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