Indian student shot dead in US during robbery at store

A 22-year-old Indian student hailing from Andhra Pradesh was shot dead in California state early on Christmas morning during a robbery at a convenience store where he was working part time as a clerk.

Jayachandra Elaprolu was shot five times and was found dead when the police arrived on the scene. The tragic incident occurred in Pasadena county of California state on early Christmas morning.

Police said they are now seeking at least two suspects in the shooting death, the Houston Chronicle reported. Elaprolu was a student and was working at the convenience store part time.

Ali Kahn, a manager at the store said Elaprolu was from India and had been working at the store for less than a month.

A video of the CCTV footage obtained by the police showed a man in a ski mask entering the Conoco gas station at about 2.20am (local time), before shooting the clerk and taking away the cash register.

Pasadena police spokesperson Bud Corbett said the victim was shot five times.

Police distributed surveillance video from the store to local media outlets in an attempt to find witnesses, the paper said.

As the assailant confronted him, Elaprolu managed to get behind a door that led to a small office behind the counter, but he appears to have been shot through the door, according to police.

Media reports said Elaprolu was studying computers at college and had been working at the gas station for only three weeks.

Corbett said investigators were surprised by the ferocity of the gunman who appears to walk in with a 9 mm semi-automatic pistol in hand and starts shooting.

"To actually see the suspect enter a store and engage in gunfire is a unique circumstance... He's a very violent individual, and the sooner we apprehend him, the better," he said.

While the shooter is described as a 5 feet 10 inches to 6 feet tall man between 220 and 250 pounds, police have named another person who was seen leaving the store seconds before the shooting incident.

Police said the second man, who did not appear to be having a weapon, could either be an accomplice of the attacker or a witness to the case.

The video showed the gunman pulling the cash register off the counter and hauling it out, snapping an attached cord as he left.

A woman who entered the store about a minute and half after the incident found the clerk hit by bullets and she called the police.