University created false story about student death, documents show

When an international student attending the University of Missouri-Kansas City was killed last year during a robbery at a restaurant, university officials said publicly that he was at the business to help family friends - rather than working there - because they were concerned the details would affect their international student enrollment, according to a newspaper report.

Sharath Koppu was fatally shot last July at J’s Fish and Chicken Market in Kansas City. Police and his relatives said he was working at the restaurant but university officials announced he was there “assisting family friends.” They stuck to that story until last week, when they acknowledged they didn’t know if the story was accurate, The Kansas City Star reported .

Documents obtained through an open records request show university officials created the false story because they were concerned Koppu, who was from India, was violating his F1 visa by working off-campus. That could have caused a federal investigation and put the university’s international student enrollment at risk, The Star reported.

A public statement signed by Chancellor Mauli Agrawal began this way:

“To the UMKC Community: It is my sad duty to inform you that a member of our community was killed Friday evening during an armed robbery at the restaurant where he was assisting family friends..”

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