Savitha Shan, 21, is a superstar student at the University of Texas and will graduate in May 2026. She majored in two majors, one in economics and the other in management information systems. But after she was shot and killed by a gunman on West Sixth Street in Austin, her race became a major topic on social media as many wondered what Shan was doing in Texas. “Had she stayed in safe India, she would still be alive,” one hate comment read. Another wrote: “No, in India she would have faced a slow, smelly death, electrocuted by live wires/falling into sewage-filled potholes/bitten by dogs… these are all ways she could have died here. At least she would have left in a second, which is better.”Savitha Sanmugasundram was born in the United States. She is also president of the university’s Indian Students Association and volunteers with the Austin Tamil Sangam.Another victim of the shooting was Ryder Harlingden. The vicious comments came in response to a post from sports writer Shehan Jeyarajah, in which he wrote: Two college students, two Texans, their lives are just getting started. Too bad.“Just because I can speak, it’s really hard for me to feel how close Savitha’s death was. Plan Two, the Indian Student Association, celebrated a night on Sixth Street. I live with a lot of friends. The South Asian population at UT is so vibrant. My heart aches for them,” Jeyarajah continued. Some social media users commented that instead of seeing two Texans, they could see a Texan and another Indian, etc. “Growing up in Austin, working hard, doing everything well, getting into a top program at one of the best universities in the world, thriving, being a completely innocent victim of a mass shooting, and even ‘it’ isn’t enough to make people stop disrespecting you. Even death is not enough,” Sheahan himself shouted to the trolls.Texas Republican Brandon Gill, an outspoken critic of immigration, said Savitha grew up in Austin and her killer should never have been allowed into the United States. Indo-Texan politician Burt Thakur posted, “Ride and Savitha rest in power.” Thakur wrote, “Two bright lights extinguished by terrorists.”
