Kansas bar shooting hero gets reward

Since Ian Grillot intervened in a shooting in February that left one Indian immigrant dead and another one wounded, Indian immigrants have rallied to help him in return.

Grillot, a 24-year-old from Olathe, Kan., ran at a gunman at Austins Bar and Grill on Feb. 22, thinking the attacker had run out of bullets and hoping to stop him from fleeing. But he had miscalculated and was shot through the hand and chest.

His confrontation with the gunman has been widely praised in India, where officials have extended an invitation to visit the country. It has also been appreciated by Indian immigrants in the United States. On Saturday, India House Houston, a non-profit organization, presented Grillot with $100,000, which it had raised to help him buy a home.

“This is the real America, not the America that’s generally portrayed,” Jiten Agarwal, the organizer of the group’s annual gala, said Monday of Grillot’s actions during the attack.

When Grillot accepted the cheque, he said he couldn’t have “lived with myself if I wouldn’t have stopped or attempted to stop the shooter.

“I do now have a very powerful message, and if I can help empower people and spread hope and love, then why not?” he said.