Bullet on street, blood on window: HoloWorld CEO Harshavardhana Kikkeri from Karnataka shoots family dead in US, then kills self

MYSURU: Mysuru-based entrepreneur Harshavardhana Kikkeri (45) allegedly shot and killed his wife, Shwetha (41), and their 14-year-old son at their home in Newcastle, near Washington, US, before dying by suicide on April 24.

According to reports, the couple's younger son survived as he was not at home at the time of the incident.

Police responded to a 911 call last week at a townhouse in King County, where they discovered blood on a window, a bullet in the street, and three bodies, according to King County Sheriff's spokesperson Brandyn Hull, as reported by The Seattle Times.

A family friend in Mysuru confirmed the news and said Harshavardhana's mother, Girija, living in Mysuru has left for US. His elder brother, Chethan, who too was in the US, recently returned to Mysuru for good. Harshavardhana's father Kikkeri Narayana was a noted linguist and a progressive activist.

A native of Kikkeri in KR Pet taluk of Mandya district, Harshavardhana founded HoloWorld, a robotic company, based out of Mysuru. When the company folded due to the Covid pandemic, the couple returned to the US. According to the family friend, Harshavardhana hasn't visited Mysuru since 2022.

Law enforcement has not revealed the motive for the crime and declined to say whether it was a case of murder-suicide. However, according to The Seattle Times, the medical examiner's office ruled Shwetha and the boy's deaths as homicides, while Harshavardhana's death was classified as a suicide.