Click to play videoNew Delhi: Two Indian students, studying in Louisiana State University, were shot dead by unidentified assailants on the campus on Friday.
The two students were identified as Chandrashekhar Reddy and Kiran Kumar, who hailed from Kurnool and Karim Nagar in Andhra Pradesh respectively. They were doctoral students at the university.
CBS News quoted Charles Zewe, a spokesman for the LSU System, as saying that the two had been shot once in the head. Zewe said Chandrasekhar "was bound with a computer cable and shot, while Kiran was found near the door."
The first call of a 'medical emergency' came into the LSU police department at 10:37 PM (EST). The call was made by Kiran's wife, who first found the two dead. Kiran's wife is a software engineer and is said to be pregnant. The shootout took place in Kiran's friend's room.
Family sources in Karim Nagar said Kiran's parents are leaving for US early on Saturday. Chandrasekhar was working toward a doctorate degree in biochemistry and Kiran was in the chemistry doctoral programme.
Louisiana police said the two were likely to have been shot dead during a home invasion. No suspects were identified immediately, but reports said the police are looking for three men.
The Vice-Chancellor of the university, Michael Ruffner, also claimed that it was a home invasion. "It was not a shootout. It was a home invasion. There were two PhD students who were shot and killed sometime last evening after 10:30 PM, Central time," he told CNN-IBN. This is the first killing on the campus since the early 1990s.
The incident took place inside an apartment complex at the Edward Gay Complex. The apartment building is designated for married and graduate students and it is on the north edge of the campus, near one of Baton Rouge's highest-crime areas and near an elementary school.
The apartment complex, a cluster of pale yellow cinderblock, three-story buildings, is within sight of the transition offices of Louisiana Governor-elect Bobby Jindal.
Narain, an uncle of Kiran Kumar, however, told CNN-IBN that Kiran and his wife Sapna used to live on Roosevelt Street. "Their residence is different from the university campus," he said.
Srinivas, a friend of Komma Chandrashekhar Reddy in US, told CNN-IBN that they were alarmed on Friday night when Chandrashekhar didn't return home in time.
"When Chandrashekhar didn't return home in time, we went up to his friend's place looking for him. When we saw the police there, we got to know about the situation," he said.
Chandrasekhar was working toward a doctorate degree in Biochemistry and Kiran was in the Chemistry doctoral programme.
The police said that the two were likely to have been shot dead during a home invasion. No suspects were identified immediately, but reports said the police are looking for three men.
In India, Chandrashekhar nephew Vamsi said they didn't receive any call from the US authorities. "We didn't receive any call from the US Government or the police. We came to know about the incident from your channel. One of our relatives is on the spot. It's really bad for the family," he said.
The shootings took place at a time when final exams were nearing completion on the 30,000-student campus. "Finals wrap up Saturday, but many of them are already finished," said LSU spokeswoman Kristine Calongne. "A lot of students have already gone home."
The Indian Consulate General in Houston, BR Gawai, said his office was still waiting for more details on the incident. "We have heard about the incident. We are checking it through friends and relatives. We are still waiting for more details from the local authorities," he said.
The university authorities on Friday cautioned students about travelling to the university and police patrols have been increased on the campus.
AP quoted a university news release, saying that the emergency text message was sent to students registered for an emergency alert system, but not all students received it.
The problem was being investigated, it said. Officials also sent out an e-mail, voice mail message and posted a message to the LSU website.
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