Indian student shot dead in New Haven, CT

By Ritu Jha-

A student of Indian origin was shot dead while working as a delivery driver in New Haven, Connecticut, Jan 19.

Christian Bruckhart, a spokesperson for the New Haven Police Department, told indica that New Haven police officers responding to a 911 call about a shooting at 3:58 PM found Raviteja Koyyada, 26, lying in the area around Shepard Street and Goodrich Street. Found unresponsive with a gunshot wound, Koyyada was transported to Yale-New Haven Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Detectives determined that Koyyada was a delivery driver for a Chinese food restaurant and was shot while making a delivery to a house on Shepard Street. His car was stolen but was located a short time later parked and unoccupied nearby.

Mohan Nannapaneni. Founder of TEAM Aid, a group that helps transport the mortal remains of Indians to India, told indica he was not pleased to see Indian media, which had reported the death as happening in Washington, DC.

Koyyada, who had recently completed his masters, was looking for a job, Nannipenni said, describing Koyyada as the son of a Hyderabad cab driver who sent his son to study further. His sister is studying in U.S. as well.

Nannapaneni asked students taking part-time jobs to do due diligence and not just rush in to get jobs. But he admitted that most of them are desperate for work.

New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker told the media that the violence was not likely to be a result of a previous dispute.

New Haven police wants anyone who witnessed this incident or has information valuable to investigators to call detectives at 203-946-6304 or through the department’s anonymous tip-line at 866-888-TIPS (8477).