Suicide by techie, three of family shot, say US police

Washington, June 18

An Indian-American IT professional committed suicide by shooting himself while his wife and two minor sons were shot dead inside their home in the US state of Iowa, police said after authorities conducted autopsies to unravel the mysterious death of all four members of the family.

The West Des Moines Police Department, which is probing the case, came to this conclusion after forensic autopsies were conducted. The family of four, hailing from Andhra Pradesh, was found dead under mysterious circumstances with gunshot wounds.

The bodies of Chandrasekhar Sunkara, 44, Lavanya Sunkara, 41, their 14-year-old son Prabhas Sunkara and 11-year-old son Suhas Sunkara were found in their home on Saturday morning. West Des Moines police said that Chandrasekhar killed himself inside his family’s home. His wife, Lavanya, and the couple’s sons were fatally shot, authorities said. However, police declined to identify their killer, but they have said there is no danger to the public in connection with the deaths, The Des Moines Register reported.

Dallas County Sheriff Chad Leonard said Chandrasekhar was issued a permit to carry weapons in April after passing a state background check.

Leonard said that West Des Moines police had told him that Sunkara purchased at least one weapon after the permit was issued, but investigators were still working to determine what was purchased and from where.

The Iowa Department of Public Safety (DPS) said he was an IT professional in the Technology Services Bureau for the department for the past 11 years. — PTI