From California Post · · 1m 40s
Two attempts to find him, then a killing
Sacramento deputies had cause to arrest Rohit Rohit before he killed Shalini Thakur. They just never found him.
In brief
Sacramento deputies had cause to arrest Rohit Rohit before he killed Shalini Thakur. They just never found him. A stalking case with a restraining order, a tracker on her car and death threats was handled as a low-level misdemeanor, and the man was never located. Originally reported by California Post.
Killed outside a Panera
Rohit Rohit, 22, an Indian national in the country illegally, shot 38-year-old Shalini Thakur on Tuesday outside a Panera Bread in Sacramento.
They looked twice
After Thakur reported a restraining order violation, deputies and detectives made at least two attempts to find Rohit, including at places he was known to frequent. They never made contact.
“If we made contact with him, yeah, I am certain there would have been an arrest.”
No manhunt for this
Lt. Amar Gandhi said the office does not mount large-scale searches for a case like this one, though detectives do follow up.
“There's not going to be a massive, large-scale manhunt for this person.”
Filed as a misdemeanor
The alleged violation was a lower-level misdemeanor, so even an arrest might have ended in a citation. It was not classed as domestic violence because the two were never romantically involved.
A year of escalation
He met her at the IHOP where she waited tables, delivering DoorDash orders. Then came death threats, an AirTag on her car, a copied house key, daily visits to her job, and slashed tires.
Sanctuary limits and a 2023 release
California law restricted the sheriff's cooperation with federal immigration agents. DHS had arrested Rohit at the Arizona border in 2023 and released him on recognizance a month later.
Her mother is alone
Sudesh Kumari says the paperwork never turned into protection. Sheriff Jim Cooper believes Rohit was heading somewhere else to hurt someone else when police stopped him.
“Restraining order after restraining order… police did not protect my daughter.”
What to remember
A stalking case with a restraining order, a tracker on her car and death threats was handled as a low-level misdemeanor, and the man was never located.
