A 25-year-old Indian man was among three people killed when a gunman opened fire in a bank building in the US city of Cincinnati before police shot him dead on Thursday.
Pruthviraj Kandepi, who hailed from Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh, was killed when 29-year-old Omar Enrique Santa Perez from the town of North Bend, Ohio, opened fire at the headquarters for the Fifth Third Bank near Fountain Square in downtown Cincinnati, police said.
India’s Consul General in New York Ambassador Sandeep Chakravorty told PTI that the Consulate is in touch with the police, Kandepi’s family as well as members of the community.
An official of the Telugu Association of North America (TANA) said that Kandepi was working with the bank as a consultant.
Arrangements were being made to send his body to India, he added.
The other two victims were identified as Luis Felipe Calderon, 48 and Richard Newcomer, 64.
“Five victims injured, three dead. Suspect is dead. Three or four officers responded and engaged the shooter,” the Cincinnati Police Department tweeted.
One of the victims died at the scene and two more died at the University of Cincinnati Medical Centre, according to reports.
A spokeswoman for the medical facility said one victim remained there in critical condition and another was listed as serious. All four treated at the hospital suffered from gunshot wounds, she said.
The incident took place at a 30-storey building, home to the corporate headquarters for regional banker Fifth Third Bank and other businesses, Xinhua news agency reported.
According to the Cincinnati Police Chief Eliot Isaac, officers responded to a 911 call around 9:10 a.m. local time about an “active shooter” at the bank.
The gunman was shot multiple times as four police officers approached him and he died at the scene.
He had a pistol and more than 200 rounds of ammunition, Isaac said, adding that the gunman was not a former or current employee of the bank
Police said the gunman opened fire at the loading dock of the building and then entered the bank’s lobby where he exchanged gunfire with police.
The gunman was not identified, and police did not comment on the possible motive.
In a statement, Fifth Third Bank offered thoughts and prayers for those caught up in the “terrible event”.
The bank operates around 1,200 banking centres in 10 US states.
(With agency inputs)