A Walmart run for 3 international graduate students ends in deadly shooting, ‘senseless robbery’ for $6 on South Side
Chicago Tribune via Yahoo | February 3, 2023 | Shanzeh Ahmad

Lakshman Gogada and two roommates… were “five steps” from entering a Walmart when they were robbed at gunpoint and Gogada’s roommates — both of whom had arrived from India only 10 days earlier — were shot, one fatally.

“I was saved by God’s grace, but they both were hit by bullets,” said Gogada, 22, who was not injured when, according to police, five people pulled up to them[?] in a stolen [?] 2020 Kia Forte on Jan. 22. [How do you know?]

“We just gave the phone and money, but they only took the money and left the phones, and even after giving [?], they just shot,” Gogada said “After hearing the shot sounds, I just laid down on the ground.”

Devasish Nandepu, 23, was pronounced dead the next morning of a gunshot wound to the back, while Sai Charan Koppala, 22, suffered a gunshot wound to the chest, authorities said. Koppala is expected to be discharged from the hospital soon.

The events that led to the shooting began when the trio decided to grab a bus [?] from their apartment to 87th Street and Lafayette Avenue and walk the rest of the way, about a half a mile, to the Walmart at 8431 S. Stewart Ave.

They were almost there when suddenly the Kia pulled up and two gunmen wearing face masks jumped out. One was carrying a “long gun,” possibly a rifle [?], and the other a handgun, as they “began to demand the victims’ belongings,”

“Get on the ground,” they yelled, saying they wanted their cellphones and pass codes but after snatching a $5 bill and a $1 bill, without the phones, [?] the attacker with the rifle began to shoot — hitting Koppala and Nandepu, according to the police report.

The shooter got back in the Kia and fled.