Murder Charge For Suspect In Fatal Shooting Of Indian Student

India-West News Desk

FORT WORTH, TX — A 23-year-old man, identified as Richard Florez of North Richland Hills, has been charged with murder in connection with the fatal shooting of 28-year-old Indian student Chandrashekar Pole during a robbery at a Fort Worth gas station on the night of October 3.

According to the Fort Worth Police Department, officers responded around 8:45 p.m. to a report of a robbery at the Fort Worth Express gas station on Eastchase Parkway. When they arrived, they found Pole with gunshot wounds. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Florez fled the scene immediately after the shooting. Police said he then fired multiple shots into an occupied vehicle about a mile away, though no one in that car was injured. Shortly afterward, 911 callers reported that a man matching the suspect’s description had rammed through a metal gate and attempted to break into a nearby home.

Responding officers arrested Florez at the home-invasion location after a woman called police saying she believed someone was inside her residence. Investigators later recovered a firearm from the suspect’s vehicle. Police said Florez was taken to a hospital for unspecified injuries before being booked into custody.

The Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office identified the victim as Chandrashekar Pole, a University of North Texas student from Hyderabad, India. Pole had completed a Bachelor of Dental Surgery degree in India before moving to the United States in 2023 to pursue higher education.

Friends said he had recently completed his master’s degree about six months ago and was working part-time at the gas station while searching for full-time employment in his field.