Indian kills two kids, three relatives before taking own life

Silicon Valley/Udhagamandalam, Mar 31 (PTI) A
housewarming ceremony turned tragic when an Indian engineer
hailing from Tamil Nadu went on a shooting rampage killing two
of his children including an infant and three other visiting
relatives before he turned the gun on himself at his home in a
posh Silicon Valley neighbourhood in California.

The lone survivor of the "horrific" incident in the
Santa Clara area on the night of March 29 was the wife of the
US-based 42-year-old man who escaped with multiple gunshot
wounds and collapsed in a pool of blood outside her home. She
is fighting for her life at a local hospital, police said.

All the six victims killed hailed from Ayyankolli near
Gudalur,110 km from Udhagamandalam in the Niligiris district.

Sources close to the family of Ashokan, a software
professional, who was one of the victims, said he along with
his wife Suchitra (30) and daughter Akhila (10) were in
California to attend the housewarming ceremony of his sister
Abha (28) on the night of March 29.

As Ashokan reportedly made some adverse comments on the
construction of the house, an enraged Devaraj, Abha's husband,
shot all members of the family with a gun before killing
himself, they said. Suchitra and Akhila were also gunned down.
Devaraj's 11-month old son Akhil and daughter Sneha (5)
also fell to the bullets. Abha has been hospitalised in
a serious condition, the sources said.

Ashokan's parents--Appu Master and Devaki-- received the
newsw about the tragedy shortly after the incident. They
refused to talk to the press.

Police said a neighbour of the Devraj family called 911
at around 8:30 pm Sunday to report an injured woman outside a
house on Headen Way in the high-end neighbourhood of
Rivermark.

Police arrived to find five bodies in the house, all shot
dead. The suspected gunman was dead with a self-inflicted
gunshot wound, local media reports said. "There's no way to
describe it other than horrific," Lt Phil Cooke of the Santa
Clara Police was quoted as saying.

The youngest victim was an 11-month-old girl who was
alive when police came but later died at a hospital.

Investigators said the man lived at the recently rented
house with his wife and two children.

"We've been working with the Indian Consulate office in
San Francisco," Lt Cooke said.

Investigators was yet to ascertain the motive but said
financial issues did not appear to be a factor.

"It's devastating for everybody involved, the victims,
the community and the first responders," said Cpt Mike
Sellers. "Some of our officers performed CPR on the girl who
was around 4 years old, but she was pronounced dead."

Sellers said he did not believe the suspect left a
suicide note. The man was said to be an engineer at Yahoo who
also had worked at Microsoft.

Residents of the upscale community of Rivermark, where
the shootings occurred, were horrified.

"I can't imagine someone shooting little children. It's
awful," neighbour Ivy Hopkins told San Francisco Chronicle.

Two handguns were found inside the residence, but police
are awaiting the results of ballistics tests before
determining whether one or both weapons were used. PTI SDG
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