Hyd youth shot dead in Florida

Hyderabad: A Hyderabad-based student was shot dead by some unidentified persons following a petty dispute over an iPhone at Miami in Florida. The incident has sent shock-waves among the small but vibrant Indian-American community in Florida.

According to reports, Sai Kiran Goud, 22, was allegedly shot by members of a gang on Sunday morning as he refused to part with his iPhone. When Sai Kiran resisted, he was shot from a close range. He was pronounced dead at a local hospital there. Sai Kiran, a resident of Kapra in Kushaiguda area was pursuing his MS from Atlantic University in Boca Raton.

He left Hyderabad for US only a month and a half ago. The Florida police traced Sai's whereabouts and informed his friends and concerned officials here. The entire neighborhood of Sai's residential area plunged into a deep state of shock. His heartbroken parents are in talks with the authorities to bring back his body for final rites.

This is the third incident in just over a month in Florida where Indians were shot dead by locals. A 30-year-old Indian was shot in the face by a 16-year-old teenager at St Augustine in May and before that a 39-year-old Indian was shot dead by two masked men at New Haven in Florida.