iNDICA NEWS BUREAU-
A 26-year-old man of Indian origin working at a convenience store in Houston, Texas was shot dead on Sunday, morning, March 20.
A surveillance video released Wednesday, March 23 shows the suspect entering the store, pulling out a gun at the register, and fleeing the scene.
According to Houston Police, public information office, John Dias(victim, above phone) was shot dead on Sunday morning in northeast Houston, in Texas.
“The investigation is in progress and it looks like a robbery…we don’t know the motive yet,” the office told indica over the phone. “No arrest has been made yet.”
Dias was working at V Stop Food Mart in the 6500 block of Homestead Road when an unidentified miscreant came in and shot him at the store counter.
The police are probing all angles and are looking for the suspect. The incident was captured in a 104-second long video on the store’s security camera that shows Dias working at the counter and attending to several customers.
Investigators told Houston-based news agency ABC13 that he suffered one gunshot wound on his right shoulder.
Dias, ‘Johnny’ to his friends, was a footballer before migrating to the United States. He played as a goalkeeper for Goa’s Chandor Football Club before leaving for the US.
A pall of gloom descended on the village of Chandor on Monday as news of Dias’ death came in. Dias was the lone bread earner and is survived by his mother Inacina Dias, who is in a state of shock.
“I spoke to him yesterday (Sunday) at 4 PM. He had said that he would make a video call to me later as he was preparing to go to work. And today morning I get the news that he is no more,” said Inacina.
A promising footballer, Dias, hailing from Culsabhatt in Chandor, left Goa for the US in 2019 with big dreams. He had bought a plot of land and wanted to build a house for his mother.
His mother said Dias had planned to come down to Goa in 2024. He was hopeful of getting a green card while he worked in the store in Texas.
Chandor sarpanch Edward D’Silva, who among others visited Dias’ humble home, said the entire village was in a state of shock on learning about the sudden death of the man.
“The village had rejoiced when John left for the US as he had been through a very difficult childhood, due to various
circumstances. I appeal to the state government to take up the matter with the Indian embassy in the US to bring the culprits to book,” D’Silva said.
