A 51-year-old Kansas man has been charged with first degree murder and attempted murder for shooting two Indian engineers – killing one – in a crowded bar on Wednesday night after reportedly telling them to “get out of my country.”
Adam W. Purinton was arrested after opening fire on Srinivas Kuchibhotla and Alok Madasani, two engineers at technology company Garmin. A third man, Ian Grillot, who is American, apparently tried to stand up to the shooter. The FBI said it is investigating the case as a possible hate crime.
A visibly inebriated Purinton fled the scene of the crime but was apprehended a couple of hours later in a branch of Applebee’s in Clinton, Missouri after he told a bartender that he had just been involved in a shooting with two men he described as Middle Eastern, according to the Kansas City Star.
Kuchibhotla died at a hospital after the 7:15 p.m. shooting at Austin’s Bar and Grill, a suburban restaurant in Kansas City.
“It was a tragic and senseless act of violence,” Olathe Police Chief Steven Menke told reporters during a press conference.
The killing sent shock waves around India and provoked an outcry on social media, where people worried that Trump’s demonization of foreigners and tough stance on immigration has fueled an increase in xenophobia and ethnic violence.
The very popular South Indian actor Siddarth tweeted to his 2.6 million followers on Wednesday: “Don’t be shocked! Be angry! Trump is spreading hate. This is a hate crime! RIP #SrinivasKuchibhotla.”
Eye witnesses told The Star that Purinton been drinking hard and kept spouting racial slurs at the two Garmin engineers. He is thought to have been kicked out of the bar once. But when he came back, Grillot, another bar regular, told him to stop, at which point the man hurled “get out of my country” before opening fire.
Two crowdfunding campaigns were set up by friends and families of Kuchibhotla and Madasani to help with funeral and hospital costs.
“On February 22nd 2017, an intoxicated man hurling racial slurs opened fire inside a packed Kansas bar killing our dearest friend Srinivas Kuchibhotla” one of them reads.
“Srini was the kindest person you would meet, full of love, care and compassion for everyone. He never uttered a word of hatred, a simple gossip, or a careless comment. He was brilliant, well mannered and simply an outstanding human being”
As of Thursday, it had raised over $260,000 — almost double its original target.
A third fundraising page, launched for 24-year old Ian Grillot, says he “stood up for two people being mistreated by a man” but then “found himself in the wrong place trying to be a helping hand.”
Prosecutors at Thursday’s press conference refused to give further details about what happened inside the bar.
“We are looking at whether the crime was committed via bias motivation. We are really at the preliminary stage at looking at every aspect,” said Eric Jackson, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Kansas City Office.
Purinton, a Navy veteran, appeared in court on Thursday and waived his right to fight extradition so he can go back to Kansas.
The attacks come on the heels of another racially motivated incident in Texas involving people of Indian descent. Over the weekend an unidentified man was taken off a United Airlines flight after he reportedly harassed a Pakistani couple, asking them if they were carrying a “bomb” before calling them “illegals” and professing that they should “leave the country.”
