COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Columbus Division of Police is searching for a suspect in involved the deadly gas station shooting in Franklinton early Thursday morning.
The victim was identified as 24-year-old Saiesh Veera, who was a clerk at the store.
The shooting happened just before 1 a.m. on Thursday at the Shell gas station located at 1000 West Broad St.
Police said the suspect walked in and shot Veera. He was taken to the hospital where he died.
“Any new person that would see him would genially love him because of the way he is. He’s like calm and smiling and it spreads the positivity across the room,” said Venkat Nerusu, Veera's half-brother.
Nerusu said Veera came to America from India. He had hopes of creating a better future for himself and his family.
“He was a kid who always had a lot of inspiration,” said Nerusu.
Veera was a few weeks out from getting his masters degree in I.T. at a school overseas.
“He was about to quit this current job in two weeks…and this happened,” said Punith Ragubadhi, one of his close friends.
He was going to quit the job because working at the gas station was too dangerous.
"If you just like kill someone, there is a family that is across the other part of the world,” said Nerusu. “I’m sure like the guy who did this will be caught and justice will be served."
They’re sending Veera’s body to India for his funeral and they’re needing help with funds. They’ve created a GoFundMe to help raise money.
"I know money cannot bring him back, but that is the least we can do for the family,” said Nerusu.