Aishwarya Thatikonda: Victim of Allen mass shooting identified as 27-year-old engineer
ALLEN, TEXAS: A day after 33-year-old suspect Mauricio Garcia opened fire outside the Allen Premium Outlets mall on Saturday, May 6, 2023, the second victim has been identified as Aishwarya Thatikonda, 27. The update comes after the identification of the first victim Christian LaCour, a 20-year-old security guard who worked at the mall.
A total of eight people were killed and seven were wounded in the mass shooting, CNN reports. The other six victims, aged between 5 and 61, have not been identified yet.
READ MORE
Graphic video of Allen mass shooting sparks outrage after it goes viral
Allen mass shooting: 9 dead and 7 injured as gunman is killed by police
Who was Aishwarya Thatikonda?
Aishwarya was "an engineer who was "skilled in AutoCAD, PrimaveraP6, Construction, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Word, and Engineering," and was a "strong administrative professional with a Master's degree focused on Construction Management from Eastern Michigan University," according to LinkedIn profile. She completed her master's in 2020 in the US and graduated in 2018 from Osmania University, Hyderabad, India.
Prior to the news of her death, her father, Narsi Reddy Thatikonda, a district judge in Hyderabad, India wrote a letter to Allen County Police Department stating, "I am the father of Ms Aishwarya Thatikonda aged about 27 years working at Perfect General Contractors LLC, as a project manager. She has been missing and not in contact with us since the shootout incident that happened yesterday [May 6] at Premier outlet mall." And added, "Herewith I am authorizing my local representative in USA Mr Ashok Kolla -Treasurer TANA to liaison with authorities to get information of my daughter Ms Aishwarya Thatikonda," a local newspaper, Namaste Andhra reports.
A family representative of Thatikondas said, "She was with a friend at the outlet mall when the shooting occurred. Her friend was injured in the shooting and is currently stable in the hospital," WFAA reports. As per the representative, the body will be sent to India.
Mauricio Garcia was armed with AR-15 style assault weapon
The shooter, Mauricio Garcia, who lived in Dallas, was armed with an "AR-15 style assault weapon," President Joe Biden said in a statement. He was also wearing a tactical vest and also had a handgun. He was killed by a police officer after the confrontation. The officer, who was responding to a different incident at the mall heard the gunshots, rushed to the scene, and killed the attacker.
Commenting on the mass shoot, a neighbor of the suspect, Moises Carreon, 52, said living close to a killer was "chilling." “Just the thought of living a few houses down from someone who can do this can be a little scary and give you more caution. I don’t know why people want to shoot innocent people for any reason,” he said.
Anyone who witnessed the incident or has video footage should contact 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324).