No motive yet discovered in baffling Texas case.
By Raif Karerat
WASHINGTON, DC: A renowned Indian American physician Suresh Gadasalli was shot to death in Odessa, Texas last Thursday, leading to a manhunt that shut down several blocks of city’s downtown district before the gunman was found, also dead from apparent suicide.
According to an Odessa Police Department news release, witnesses said 60-year-old patient and business associate Ayyasamy Thangam shot the 53-year-old Gadasalli multiple times. Thangam then closed the door of the room the two men were in and witnesses heard another, single gunshot, according to the release. Authorities have yet to establish a motive.
Gadasalli originally hailed from Bengaluru, India. According to The Times of India, he graduated from the Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College in Belgaum in 1982.
Gadasalli has been in the Odessa area since 1993, and became a prominent figure in the community by performing cutting-edge heart surgeries, helping open Alliance Hospital before it was purchased by Odessa Regional Medical Center in 2007, and making a number of charitable contributions in the community, reported the Odessa American.
In 2005 Gadasalli pioneered “what was then the world’s first simultaneous hybrid vascularization, a two-technique cardiac procedure that allows repairing of multiple coronary artery disease in patients in one session using a robot,” reported the Times. Due to the simultaneous execution of the multiple procedures, the patient did not have an extended hospital stay, recovery was quicker, and hospital bills were reduced by thousands of dollars. The patient was eventually able to leave the hospital after just two days of recovery.
Numerous local media outlets disclosed Dr. Gadasalli was previously investigated by the FBI recently in a currency structuring case in which he was accused of making cash withdrawals of just under $10,000 to escape reporting requirements for over $10,000 withdrawals.
Between 2009 and 2010, Gadasalli or his office manager under the direction of Gadasalli withdrew more than $254,000 in cash on at least 28 separate occasions, according to the Odessa American, but court records indicate the case was closed in January 2014, about a year-and-a-half after it began.
Despite the investigation, Gadsalli’s popularity and professional stature in Odessa persevered at the highest level due to his philanthropic efforts and professional accolades.
Gadasalli was named Community Statesman in 1997 by the Heritage of Odessa Foundation and was nominated as “Super Doctor” by Texas Monthly Magazine in 2008.
The doctor also made numerous donations to the Empty Stocking Fund and even challenged his colleagues to contribute to the fund, the area United Way, the Children’s Miracle Network, the ECISD Education Foundation, and the Salvation Army, revealed the Odessa American.
The Times gleaned social media postings and found a slew of patients offering their condolences after hearing of Gadasalli’s death. Some recalled how he had managed to extend their lives by a number of years, while one patient recalled how he had returned early from a Christmas vacation in India for an emergency surgery.
“He flew back from India on his Christmas vacation with his family three days early to do surgery for my husband,” Carol Smith explained to NewsWest9.
Gadasalli is survived by his wife Arathi, and two children, Sanjay, who hopes to continue his father’s legacy and has just enrolled in medical school, and Divya, who attends business school.
2 Comments
He was my cardiologist for years before I moved from West Texas. He also took care of my grandmother & mother. He was a fantastic doc! He will be sorely missed.
Suresh and I were trained together at Sinai Samaritan Medical Center. I have fond memories of our time together in Milwaukee. He was a very kind gentleman, always going out of the way in helping the patients. I last met him about two years ago at American College of Cardiology Annual session and he was very happy. He will be missed. RIP