US group asks Sikhs to be vigilant after Kansas shooting

NEW YORK: A Sikh civil rights group has urged members of the Sikh-American community to exercise caution and be extra vigilant in the wake of a possible hate crime in Kansas city that left an Indian engineer dead and another injured.

The Sikh Coalition said its prayers go out to the family of Srinivas Kuchibhotla, 32, who was killed when 51-year-old Olathe man Adam Purinton shot him at a bar in the city on Wednesday. Another Indian engineer Alok Madasani, 32, was injured in the incident and has now been discharged from hospital on Thursday. Purinton has been charged in Johnson County district court with two counts of attempted first-degree murder. Bond has been set at $2 million.

The advocacy group urged “every Sikh-American to exercise extra vigilance and caution during this period of heightened vulnerability”. It urged members of the community to call law enforcement immediately if they have been a victim of hate violence or received threats of violence.

Kuchibhotla worked in aviation systems for Olathe-based Garmin Ltd. Madasani was his co-worker at Garmin. “It was a tragic and senseless act of violence,” Olathe police chief Steven Menke said in The Kansas City Star. Another individual Ian Grillot, 24, was reportedly shot while attempting to stop Purinton. Grillot said he was happy to see Madasani is recovering.

Following the shooting, Olathe residents went to the bar where the incident took place to lay flowers and offer condolences to staff, patrons and victims’ families.

“You just can’t help but your heart goes out to them, and it’s such a sad story for the community but I just wanted to support and of course honour the lives and everybody involved,” nearby business owner Amber McCracken said in a report in KSHB Kansas City.