In a shocking incident, a Mysuru-based tech entrepreneur took his own life, and his wife and son were found shot dead at their US residence near Washington last week, according to reports.
While the motive behind the crime remains unknown at this time.
What did the authorities say?
The King County Medical Examiner's Office has identified the victims as Harshavardhana Kikkeri, 57, CEO of Holoworld, a Mysore-based robotics company, along with his wife, Shwetha Panyam, 44, the company's co-founder, and their 14-year-old son.
According to King County Sheriff's spokesperson Brandyn Hull, police suspect a murder-suicide, as reported by The Seattle Times. However, officials are still investigating the exact circumstances surrounding the incident.
The incident occurred on Thursday night (US time). According to reports, the couple's younger son, aged 7, was outside the house at the time and miraculously survived.
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Responding to a 911 call, police arrived at a townhouse on Thursday at 129th Place Southeast around 7 pm. Upon investigation, detectives discovered blood smeared on the front window and a single hollow-point bullet in the street.
"An investigation such as this takes time, and our detectives are working diligently to try and piece together what led to this incident," Hull said, as quoted by India Today.
According to Alex Gumina, president of the homeowners association, the family of four – a couple and their two sons – was relatively private and kept to themselves, as told to The Seattle Times.
Who was Harshavardhana Kikeri?
Harshavardhana Kikkeri, a tech innovator from Karnataka's Kikkeri village, pursued his education in Mysuru before heading to the US.
He earned a Master's in Electrical Engineering from Syracuse University and worked at Microsoft, specialising in robotics.
According to details of the TEDx Talk posted on YouTube, Kikkeri has received several leadership awards, including a Gold Star from Microsoft, an Award of Excellence from Infosys, a Bharat Petroleum scholarship, and several chess championships.
According to his profile, he holds 44 international patents, including from countries in the US, China, Japan and Europe.
