Indian man fatally shot in the head while driving home from airport in Maryland

June 24, 2022

An Indian national was fatally shot in the head near Catonsville in Maryland while returning home from the airport.

Maryland Transportation Authority Police reportedly responded to a single-vehicle crash at around 4:30 a.m. on June 19 on southbound Interstate 95 near the Caton Avenue exit. They found Sai Charan Nakka, 25, with a gunshot wound to the head.

Nakka, who was a software engineer in Baltimore, was reportedly on his way home after dropping off a friend at the airport when an unidentified suspect opened fire at him.

The recent University of Cincinnati graduate, who flew to the U.S. in 2020 from Telangana, India, was found behind the wheel of a silver Hyundai Tucson SUV before he was brought to the University of Maryland R. Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center. He was pronounced dead shortly after.

“We have learnt about the unfortunate death of Nakka Sai Charan in the early morning of Sunday June 19, 2022 in Baltimore, Maryland. Baltimore police has not yet revealed more details on circumstances of death, as investigation is in progress,” the Indian Embassy in the United States said in a statement.

“We did not want to send our son to the US. We wanted him to be here. I had no interest in sending him there and told him not to go,” Narsimha, Nakka’s father, said.

The embassy said they are in close contact with Nakka’s family in India to help facilitate the early repatriation of his body.

“We implore officials — locally and nationally — to look into certain policies to ensure the safety of all students and young professionals who arrive in the United States. We’re reaching out to Sai Charan’s classmates from the University of Cincinnati, and we plan to hold a vigil as well,” the North American Association of Indian Students said.

The case is currently being investigated as a homicide. No arrests have been made as of this writing.

Anyone with information regarding this incident is urged to contact the Maryland Transportation Authority Police at 443-915-7727 or Metro Crime Stoppers of Maryland at 1-866-7LOCKUP.

Featured Image via Matt Popovich

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