Hyderabad girl dies in Dallas mall shooting

Hyderabad: A 27-year-old woman, Aishwarya Thatikonda, from Hyderabad was among the nine persons killed when a gunman opened fire at a crowded mall in Dallas in the US state of Texas, according to information received by her family here.

Aishwarya, daughter of a district judge T Narsi Reddy in Ranga Reddy district court, was working in Texas as a project engineer. Aishwarya's family stays at Saroornagar. She did her civil engineering from Osmania University and completed her masters in the US after which she had been working there for more than two years. Aishwarya had spoken to her mother Aruna before the incident on Saturday, and when they called her back after learning about the shooting, they did not get any response, according to the judge's friend.

“The family got the information about (her death) on Sunday. They are in shock. They have been told that efforts were being made to send her body by Wednesday,” the judge’s friend said. The family is in touch with Telugu NRI associations in the US and government authorities to bring back her body. Sources said they were expecting the body by Wednesday. Aishwarya was shopping with a friend at Allen Premium Outlets mall in the north Dallas suburbs when the gunman opened fire, the New York Post newspaper reported. The shooting took place around 3.30 pm on Saturday as throngs of shoppers filled the outdoor mall. The 33-year-old gunman was shot dead by a police officer, the report said.