The University of Cincinnati College of Medicine’s colleagues and staff are honouring the memory of an Indian doctorate candidate who was reportedly shot and discovered inside a car on the Western Hills Viaduct on 9 November. The 26-year-old Aaditya R. Adlakha died at UC Medical Center, according to the Hamilton County Coroner’s Office.
Aaditya was found shot inside his car at the intersection of the Western Hills Viaduct and Central Parkway early morning before sunrise and declared dead on the morning of 11 November. On the fateful day, he was driving on the Western Hills Viaduct at about 6:20 a.m. when the gunfire erupted and struck his four-wheeler several times. The driver’s side window had at least three bullet holes in it. Shot Spotter recorded 12 bullets fired, per police radio traffic.
He was discovered by Cincinnati Police just before 6:30 a.m. in a white Toyota Prius suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. Cincinnati Police Department acknowledged that the shooting victim had passed away, but they withheld any further details.
Passing motorists notified about a vehicle with bullet holes in it and a shot person inside to 911, based on authorities. Aaditya Adlakha was transported to the UC Medical Center where his condition remained critical for several days. No arrests have been made till now.
He was employed by Cincinnati Children’s in the Division of Pain Management’s Department of Anesthesiology. He was a fourth-year doctoral student in the molecular and developmental biology graduate program. He came to Cincinnati from north India to continue his education in medicine. He was awarded a grant and stipend last year to assist with a study on ulcerative colitis.
Aaditya Adlakha graduated from Ramjas College of the University of Delhi in New Delhi with a bachelor’s degree in zoology in 2018 after which he passed from All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi with a master’s in physiology in 2020. He enrolled at UC’s doctoral program in the fall of the same year and was scheduled to complete his doctorate in 2025.
Dr. Andrew T. Filak Jr., senior vice president for health affairs and dean of the College of Medicine released a statement which read, “Today, you might have seen news reports of his sudden, tragic and senseless death. Those who knew him, along with fellow students and others who may not have had the fortune to have met Aaditya, may experience a wide variety of reactions, which are understandable and expected.”
It further mentioned, “Grief has no timeline. We need to care for ourselves and each other as we mourn the loss of Aaditya and remember him as a friend, student and colleague. He was much-loved, exceedingly kind and humorous, intelligent and sharp, whose research was described as novel and transformative. The focus of his work was to better understand neuroimmune communication and how neuroimmune interactions might contribute to pain and the inflammatory landscape in ulcerative colitis.”
The statement added, “As a college and as Aaditya’s academic home, we extend our deepest condolences to his family and to those who knew him as a friend and colleague.”
Aaditya Adlakha started serving as secretary for the university’s Health Sciences Graduate Association in August 2022. It was through this association that he was able to obtain funding for his summer research project in the Jankowski Lab, “Immunomodulatory Role of Nociceptive Neurons in Ulcerative Colitis,” through the University Research Council Graduate Student Stipend and Research Cost Program for Faculty-Student Collaboration Award.
Anirudh Chhabre, former president of the Indian Student Association who resided in the same building as the deceased voiced, “It also is kind of demotivating, like, OK, do we really want to, like, put our life at risk, you know, to be able to get like quality education? Because I don’t think education should have like, you know, stressors like these come along with it.”
Aaditya Adlakha’s neighbour in his Clifton apartment building pointed out she worked in the lab next door to his at Children’s Hospital and Medical Center and the University of Cincinnati, but she declined to be interviewed. She called him a really kind and optimistic individual. The distance between his residential building and the crime scene is roughly two miles.
In an email to students of the institution, UC informed that Aaditya Adlakha had passed away and that he would “always be a Bearcat” (football program) while also offering counseling to anyone who might require it. It is uncertain if he was shot on Central Parkway or on the viaduct, but per Cincinnati municipal data, this was the first shooting there since 2016. Moreover, the motive behind the occurrence is unclear.
According to city figures, there have been 298 gunshots in Cincinnati as of November 3. There were 370 instances in the city at the same time frame in 2022. The police are still looking for information in this case and they have asked anyone with any tips to give Crime Stoppers a call at the number provided. All calls and tips can be made anonymously.
