A 22-year-old Indian student hailing from Andhra Pradesh was shot dead in California state early on Christmas morning during a robbery at a convenience store where he was working part time as a clerk.

Jayachandra Elaprolu was shot five times and was found dead when the police arrived on the scene. The tragic incident occurred in Pasadena county of California state on early Christmas morning.

Police said they are now seeking at least two suspects in the shooting death, the Houston Chronicle reported. Elaprolu was a student and was working at the convenience store part time.

Ali Kahn, a manager at the store said Elaprolu was from India and had been working at the store for less than a month.

A video of the CCTV footage obtained by the police showed a man in a ski mask entering the Conoco gas station at about 2:20 am (local time), before shooting the clerk and taking away the cash register.

Pasadena police spokesman Bud Corbett said the victim was shot five times.

Police distributed surveillance video from the store to local media outlets in an attempt to find witnesses, the paper said.

Media reports said Elaprolu was studying computers at college and had been working at the gas station for only three weeks