Heartland bigot slay
A Navy veteran killed a tech worker from India and wounded another in a Kansas bar — screaming “Get out of my country!” before opening fire, police and witnesses said.
Adam W. Purinton, 51, of Olathe, was charged with murder and attempted murder in the shooting of two other men at Austin’s Bar and Grill: Alok Madasani, 32, of Overland Park, Kan., and Ian Grillot, 24, who tried to intervene.
Srinivas Kuchibhotla, 32, an engineer from Hyderabad, died of his wounds. Grillot and Madasani, a fellow engineer at GPS-maker Garmin, were recovering.
The feds, who have declined to describe the attack as a hate crime, are investigating to determine if it was “bias-motivated.”
The shooting sparked outrage in India and on social media, where people voiced concerns that President Trump’s “America First” position on immigration and jobs has fostered a climate of intolerance.
Two Indian consulate officials were sent to Kansas City to meet with Madasani and help bring Kuchibhotla’s body to India, said Vikas Swarup, a spokesman for India’s External Affairs Ministry.