DALLAS (TIP): Friends from school fondly remember 28-year-old Aishwarya Thatikonda as “Rowdy” – a nickname she earned for her courage and bold personality.
The young Indian professional was among those who were killed when a gunman opened fire at an outlet mall in Allen near Dallas in Texas. A total of eight people were killed before the police shot the gunman down.
Thatikonda was with another Indian friend when the gunman opened fire in the outlet mall killing unsuspecting shoppers. Her friend was also injured in the incident.
She worked as a project manager in Frisco based Perfect General Contractors LLC in Texas and lived in the Dallas suburb of McKinney. Thatikonda hailed from Hyderabad and came to the US for her Masters from Eastern Michigan University after completing her bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Osmania University.
Aishwarya did her masters in construction management in the US and was on a work-based visa. Her family hails from Saroornagar in Hyderabad. Her family in Hyderabad are devastated. Aishwarya’s father Narsi Reddy works as a judge in Rangareddy district court in Hyderabad.
School friends remember Aishwarya as someone who would always step in to help her friends whether it was to clear backlogs or donate money to NGOs.
The news of an Indian killed among those who lost their lives in Texas shooting, has cast a pall of gloom over the Indian community not just in Dallas, Texas but across the US.
Thatikonda’s family is now looking to repatriate her mortal remains to India.
As Vice President Kamala Harris noted in a statement “Allen, Texas was torn apart by a senseless mass shooting at a shopping mall—one of far too many communities impacted by gun violence.”
“While there is much we do not yet know about this attack, here is what we do know: all Americans deserve to be safe from gun violence. But they are not,” she stated.
“Not because we do not know the solutions. Not because the American people are divided on this issue – even a majority of gun owners support sensible reforms,” Harris stated calling for gun reforms.