An Indian-origin student has been identified as one of the victims of a fatal shooting on Sunday (US time) at a bar in Austin, Texas. The heart-rending incident is said to have taken place just before 2 am local time along Sixth Street, a day after the US-Israeli joint attack on Iran.

At a news conference on Monday afternoon, Austin Police Department’s Chief Lisa Davis confirmed that 21-year-old Savitha Shan was one of the two people who died after the shooting outside Buford’s Backyard Beer Garden, a popular bar in the area, which is just miles away from the campus of the University of Texas at Austin.

Indian-origin student killed in Texas bar shooting

Shan was herself a student at the school, as confirmed by a University of Texas spokesman, who also added that her legal last name was Shanmugasundaram in school records, according to The New York Times.

One of her friends has since confirmed that Shan was a dual-degree student at the Texas university, according to KUT, a public radio station owned and operated by the University of Texas at Austin. The 21-year-old had graduated from Baranoff Elementary School and LASA High School.

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Her death was acknowledged in UT President Jim Davis’ email to university students and staff. Davis wrote, “Today, it was confirmed that among those who lost their lives is one UT student. A child of loving parents. A loyal friend to many. A Longhorn preparing to change the world. It is devastating, and I know all of us are grieved by this horrible news and we will remember her,” as per KUT News.

UT professor’s emotional post after Savitha Shan’s death

Russ Finney, an Assistant Professor at the McCombs School of Business, the University of Texas at Austin, described Savitha as “one of our superstar students at the UT Austin McCombs school of business.” He further detailed that she was meant to graduate in May 2026 and go on to pursue a career at “a big professional services firm.”

“She was a double major with honors. Involved in student organizations – a light in the classroom. Absolutely crushing to lose her,” he added further in an X post.

According to her LinkedIn profile, she was pursuing the Bachelor of Arts – BA, Economics degree at the The University of Texas at Austin.

“As a dual-degree student at the University of Texas at Austin, I blend a strong foundation in Management Information Systems and Economics with a passion for using technology to solve complex business problems. With hands-on experience in technology strategy consulting, product management, and business analytics, I’ve had the opportunity to work with organizations ranging from global financial institutions to early-stage startups,” she wrote in her bio.

“I thrive in cross-functional teams and enjoy translating data into meaningful insights to drive strategic decisions. Whether it’s designing dashboards, streamlining project workflows, or launching user-centric products, I’m driven by a curiosity for innovation and a commitment to impactful execution.”

Shan wasn’t the only student victim of the Austin shooting. Yet another Indian-origin name came up in the list of people injured on Sunday. 21-year-old Karan Bhakta, a senior at the University of Texas, said a bullet grazed his scalp while he was enjoying a night out with friends, according to the NYT.

Other victims of the Austin bar shooting

The other young person to have lost his life in the Sunday tragedy was 19-year-old Ryder Harrington, who was a student at Texas Tech University in Lubbock from fall 2024 to fall 2025. A spokeswoman for the university said that he wasn’t enrolled for the current semester, as reported by the NYT.

His school’s Beta Theta Pi chapter paid him a tribute in a social media post that said: “Ryder was a beloved son, brother and friend whose kindness and presence touched countless lives. Ryder had a rare ability to truly enjoy life to make people laugh, to make moments feel bigger, and to make ordinary days unforgettable. If anyone embodied what it meant to live fully and love deeply, it was Ryder.”

The fraternity also said it had planned to hold a candlelight vigil in its member’s memory on Monday evening at 1410 Orlando Ave. in Lubbock.

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On Monday, the Austin Police Department further shared that 30-year-old Jorge Pederson was the third victim to die in the shooting’s aftermath.

Among the dozens of victims injured on Sunday, five who had been taken to the hospital were discharged, according to Chief Davis’ confirmation on Monday afternoon. St. David’s HealthCare, a hospital system, also confirmed in a statement that two others were in good condition as of Sunday evening.

However, two of the injured victims were in critical condition, Davis said Monday.

What do we know about the Texas bar shooting suspect?

The FBI is currently probing the case as a possible act of terrorism after Ndiaga Diagne, a 53-year-old naturalized American citizen from Senegal, was named as the suspected shooter. Although police killed him in the aftermath, the FBI said investigators found objects pointing to a “potential nexus to terrorism” on Diagne and in the car he was driving.

According to the US authorities’ statement, the suspect, who first came to the US on a B-2 tourist visa in 2000, was wearing a sweatshirt that said “Property of Allah. Officials with knowledge of the investigation told CBS News that investigators discovered an Iranian flag and pictures of Iranian leaders during a search at the gunman’s home.

The Texas bar shooting made news after the US and Israel launched a joint military operation against Iran, which resulted in the death of its Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iran, in turn, has since continued its massive wave of retaliatory offensive against several countries in the Gulf region, all of which host US military assets.