Indian techie kills wife, son, then shoots himself in US home
Indian-origin tech entrepreneur
from
Mysuru
allegedly shot and killed his wife and one of his sons before taking his own life at their home in Newcastle, Washington, on April 24.
The victims have been identified as
Harshavardhana S Kikkeri
, 57, his wife
Shwetha Panyam
, 44, and their 14-year-old son. The family had been living in the US for several years, The Renton Reporter noted.
According to the King County Sheriff's Office, deputies responded to a 911 call on the evening of April 24 and discovered three bodies inside the family's townhouse in the 7000 block of 129th Street SE.
Harshavardhana's wife Shwetha and their son died from gunshot wounds and their deaths were ruled as homicides, while he died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, which was classified as a suicide, the King County Sheriff's Office reported.
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The motive behind the crime is yet to be revealed. The couple's younger son survived the incident.
Harshavardhana, originally from Kikkeri village in Karnataka's Mandya district, was CEO of HoloWorld, a now-closed robotics company based in Mysuru.
He co-founded HoloWorld with his wife in 2017 after moving back to India. The company, which focused on AI and robotics and was shut down in 2022.
Local neighbors were stunned. 'A young family lived in the home,' said Cathy Dunbar in an interview with KOMO News. Deputies remained at the scene until early morning hours following the discovery.
Harshavardhana, a graduate of Sri Jayachamarajendra College of Engineering in Mysuru had earlier worked with Microsoft in US, focusing on robotics.
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