FORT WORTH, Texas — Chandrashekar Pole moved to Texas from India in 2023 to build a better life, but gun violence ended his life before he could achieve his dream.

Pole was one of the first victims of an outbreak of deadly violence across Dallas and Fort Worth the first weekend of October. When the weekend had come to an end, 17 people had been shot. Another three had been stabbed. 10 of those victims had died.

Pole was shot and killed on Friday, Oct. 4. It happened while he was working at an Exxon on Eastchase Parkway in Fort Worth – a temporary job he’d taken as he searched for permanent work in the field of dentistry.

He’d finished his master’s degree at the University of North Texas six months ago, said Satish Reddy, president-elect of the American Telugu Association

“It’s not just a loss for one family, it’s a loss for the community,” Reddy said.

He lives in Flower Mound, but is from the Indian state of Telangana, as is Pole. Pole’s hometown is LB Nagar, a suburb of Hyderabad. The American Telugu Association supports the approximately 1.5 million people with roots in Telangana who now live in the U.S.

Reddy said he woke up around 3 a.m. Saturday, to a call from a politician in India alerting him to Pole’s death. The organization immediately moved into action to help the family bring Pole’s body home.

Reddy heaped praise on Fort Worth Police and the Tarrant County Medical Examiner for expediting the process.

After a viewing for Pole’s friends at a North Texas funeral home on Wednesday morning, Reddy expects the body will leave on a flight to India Wednesday evening.

“All we’re trying to do is send the boy home. A mother wants to see her son for the last time,” said Raghu Reddy, also a member of the American Telugu Association.

Since that Saturday call, the association has been in daily contact with Pole’s family.

Pole’s dream was to find success in North Texas so he could help that family back in India, so the association will continue to raise money for them, knowing it’s what Pole was working for.