Anshul Kuncha, a 28-year-old Indian man, was killed in North Philadelphia while working a late-night pizza delivery shift, a job he reportedly took on part-time while building his life in the United States. Online reports identify him as a native of Telangana, India, with ties to Hyderabad and Gundlapochampally, and describe him as a student and tech professional who had come to the U.S. with career ambitions.
Away from the life his family knew back home, he was also delivering food for Pete’s Pizza on Ridge Avenue when he was sent to the Raymond Rosen Homes housing complex on the 2300 block of Edgley Street.
The delivery that brought him there has been described by police and news reports as suspicious from the start. Kuncha was reportedly sent to a vacant apartment or vacant property after an order was placed for pizza. When he arrived, the food appears to have been left untouched, a detail that fueled his family’s belief that the order was not a real delivery request but a trap meant to lure him into danger. Investigators said surveillance footage showed two people in dark clothing following him before the shooting, with at least one person reportedly seen carrying a dark backpack.
The attack happened shortly after midnight, with several online reports placing the shooting around 12:30 a.m. on June 6, 2026, though some accounts refer to the broader incident as occurring late on June 5. Police found Kuncha unresponsive and bleeding heavily from a gunshot wound to the head. Pizza boxes at the scene helped officers connect him to Pete’s Pizza and identify the nature of the call that had brought him there. Three shell casings were reportedly recovered, and the vacant-unit setting quickly became central to the investigation.
In the days after the killing, grief spread from Philadelphia to India. His family said he had no known personal enemies and questioned why anyone would target him during a delivery. Relatives publicly pleaded for justice and for help bringing his body back to India. The Consulate General of India in New York acknowledged his death, offered condolences to the family, and said it was assisting them and staying in contact with local authorities.
No arrests have been reported in Kuncha’s killing. Police have not publicly named a suspect, but investigators have said they are looking for at least two individuals seen on surveillance video following him near the delivery location. Authorities also reportedly have a phone number connected to the person who placed the order, and that lead is being examined along with video footage, phone records, and potential witness information.
Philadelphia police announced a $20,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction in the case. As of the latest available online reporting, the killing remains under investigation, with the suspected motive centered on a staged or fake pizza order that brought Kuncha to an empty address where he was shot.
