Teen survives parents' murder-suicide

SUGAR LAND, Texas (FOX 26) — Sugar Land police say marital issues likely contributed to a murder-suicide in the Telfair subdivision on Monday morning.

Police say Sreenivas Nakirekanti, 51, shot his wife Shanti, 46, then turned the gun on himself at their home on Pendergrass Trail.

Police say they recieved a 911 hang-up call from the home at around 6 a.m. Monday. Officers arrived to find the Shanti’s body in the driveway and Sreenivas dead in the bedroom.

Police add that the couple’s teen daughter appears to have slept through the deadly shooting. She awoke to find police and her deceased mother in the driveway.

More than a dozen friends from college and work gathered next to the police crime scene tape shortly after the shooting. They spoke of an email some of them had received from the alleged shooter earlier on Monday morning.

“I went to school with him in India,” says Sriniva Varati. “We moved here for studies.” He also says police asked friends of the alleged shooter not to talk about the email during the investigation.

“Everybody, I think, have received emails, but I don’t think anybody went through the details, so we came to see him at his home, but of course none of us are allowed to go inside,” says friend Nandu Vura.

Sreenivas’ friends who attended Texas A&M University with him say they had just enjoyed a 25-year class reunion together. Now, the man who organized that reunion is dead, accused of killing his wife.

“I never heard of any marital problems,” adds Varati. He says the couple had two children. In addition to their 16-year-old daughter, their son is a student at University of Texas in Austin.

“Kind of shocking, like I said, because they were always a happy family,” says neighbor Lou Le.

Neighbors say the family liked to ride their four-wheeler through the neighborhood, the same one that Sreenivas used to help others during Hurricane Harvey.

“He was always ready to help, roll up his sleeves, and ready to help friends, strangers, and anybody who was in need, and I could say that very honestly because during Harvey, he had an ATV, took his truck, ATV, and he went around to just rescue people,” adds Vura.

Friends say Sreenivas​​​​​​​ was a director for NRG Energy and his wife worked for United Airlines.

NRG released the following statement on Monday:

We are aware of the tragic situation involving Sreeni Nakirekanti. I can confirm that Sreeni was an NRG employee. We are reaching out to those who were closest to him to offer assistance and are keeping his family members in our thoughts and prayers.

Police say friends were looking out for the couple’s daughter on Monday until family could fly in from Michigan.