A 38-year-old Indian-origin woman was shot dead outside a restaurant in California’s Sacramento after allegedly being stalked and harassed for months by a 22-year-old man, who later died by suicide during a police standoff on a busy highway.
Shalini Thakur was being dropped off at work at a shopping plaza in Sacramento’s Arden Arcade area on Tuesday when Rohit allegedly approached and confronted her, according to the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office.
When Thakur tried to flee, Rohit chased her and shot her multiple times outside a Panera Bread restaurant near Howe and Northrop avenues, investigators said. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
Months of stalking and harassment
Investigators said Rohit had been stalking and harassing Thakur for months. Thakur found an Apple AirTag hidden under her car in January, while the harassment allegedly escalated to Rohit deflating her vehicle’s tyre and following her to work.
He also allegedly obtained a copy of her apartment key and entered her home while she was sleeping. When confronted, Rohit reportedly claimed he had entered because he was concerned something had happened to her after she failed to answer him.
Thakur initially declined to pursue criminal charges or seek a restraining order, but deputies remained in contact with her. In May, sheriff’s officials again urged her to obtain one, which she eventually did.
On July 29, Rohit allegedly violated the restraining order by leaving random grocery items at her front door. Deputies attempted to contact him twice after the incident, according to the sheriff’s office.
Suspect tracked to Highway 50
After the shooting, witnesses provided investigators with information about Rohit’s vehicle. Deputies entered the details into the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office’s FLOCK automated license plate reader system and located the vehicle within minutes on eastbound Highway 50 near Watt Avenue.
When deputies attempted to pull Rohit over, he stopped on the freeway, leading to a police standoff that brought traffic to a standstill for hours. Rohit was later found slumped over in the driver’s seat with what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Authorities confirmed he had died from the wound. KCRA 3 reported that deputies did not appear to have fired their weapons.
‘Police did not protect my daughter’
In an emotional interview with KCRA 3, Thakur’s mother said authorities failed to protect her daughter despite the months-long stalking and harassment. “Police did not protect my daughter,” she said.
Investigators said Rohit had no known local criminal history. Authorities are continuing to investigate the killing, the stalking allegations and the circumstances surrounding Rohit’s death.
DHS confirms suspect was in US illegally
The Department of Homeland Security said Friday that Rohit was from India and entered the US through Arizona in 2023. A DHS spokesperson said he had previously been arrested by US Border Patrol and released by the Biden administration.
“This illegal alien from India harassed, stalked, and then killed a 38-year-old woman in California, and then took his own life when police caught up to him,” a DHS spokesperson said. The spokesperson blamed the Biden administration for releasing Rohit and said the killing could have been prevented.
However, the exact details of his immigration status were not immediately clear, while federal court records showed his case was pending. A Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office spokesman told KCRA 3 that the local agency does not have access to immigration-status information.
California’s sanctuary law, SB 54, limits local law enforcement’s ability to cooperate with federal immigration authorities in certain circumstances. A spokesperson for Governor Gavin Newsom’s office rejected attempts to link the killing to the state’s sanctuary policies, saying the case instead raised questions about preventing stalking and domestic violence and keeping victims safe.
