The younger son of Indian techie Harshavardhana S Kikkeri was not at home when he reportedly shot and killed his wife and his elder son and then shot himself in a tragedy that took place in Seattle’s King County Monday. Shwetha Panyam, 41, and Dhruva Kikkeri, 14, died from gunshot wounds. Panyam’s and Dhruva’s deaths were classified as homicides. Harshavardhana Kikkeri, 44, died by suicide, according to the medical examiner’s office, the Seattle Times reported.
Alex Gumina, the homeowner association president, said a family of four — a husband, wife and their two sons — lived in the home and mostly kept to themselves. The younger son, seven years old, escaped the tragedy as he was not at home at that time.
What happened to Harsha Kikkeri, a celebrated techie?
Many questions remain unanswered as Harsha Kikkeri, the CEO of HoloWorld, a robotics company which is headquartered in Myrsuru town, was known as a bright and promising mind who accomplished a lot. Cricketer Yuvraj Singh funded his organization and was also the brand ambassador. A 2017 selfie that he took with Bollywood actor Aishwarya Rai surfaced on social media showing the prominence that he enjoyed in India. Harsha met Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a Digital India summit.
On the night of the shooting, authorities were called to the townhouse on 129th Street after receiving a 911 call. The KING 5 television station said its crew saw a child — the younger son of the Kikkeri family — being escorted from the home and comforted by investigators.
The detectives found blood on the front window and a lone hollow point bullet in the street.
Kikkeri who belonged to the Kikkeri village in Madya, graduated from Sri Jayachamarajendra College of Engineering in Mysuru, and worked with Microsoft in the US, focusing on robotics. He also had a Master of Science degree from Syracuse University, US. Kikkeri held 44 international patents and worked in Infosys as a software engineer before moving to the US.
According to reports, he returned to India in 2017 along with his wife and co-founded HoloWorld. Then he invented HoloSuit, an AI-powered full-body motion capture suit functioning as a virtual trainer.
